Seoul to reinforce island as defence chief resigns
Source: Agencies |
November 26, 2010, Friday
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SOUTH Korea's defense minister resigned yesterday amid intense criticism, two days after a North Korean artillery attack killed four people on a small island near the Koreas' disputed frontier.
President Lee Myung-bak accepted Kim Tae-young's resignation "to improve the atmosphere in the military and to handle the series of incidents," a presidential official said.
A new defense chief will be announced today, presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee said.
The move came as Lee vowed to send more troops to the frontline South Korean island and as residents tried to salvage belongings from the wreckage of their homes. North Korea warned of additional attacks if provoked.
North Korea fired a barrage of artillery shells at the island of Yeonpyeong off the peninsula's west coast on Tuesday, killing two civilians and two soldiers and destroying dozens of houses.
South Korean troops fired back 13 minutes later, causing unknown damage.
South Korea was conducting firing drills, though not in North Korea's direction, when the North Korean artillery barrage came.
Members of Lee's party and opposition lawmakers accused the military of responding too slowly.
Hours before Kim's resignation, lawmakers had lashed out at the government, claiming officials were unprepared for Tuesday's attack. Even those in Lee's ruling party demanded Kim's dismissal as well as those of military leaders and presidential aides.
At an emergency meeting in Seoul yesterday, Lee ordered top-level weapons for troops manning the tense Yellow Sea, a presidential aide said.
"We should not ease our sense of crisis in preparation for the possibility of another provocation by North Korea," presidential spokesman Hong Sang-pyo quoted Lee as saying. "A provocation like this can recur any time."
Hong said South Korea will sharply raise the number of ground troops on Yeonpyeong and four other islands, reversing a 2006 decision to draw down forces. He declined to discuss specifics but said troops there currently number about 4,000.
He also said the military would change its rules of engagement to better counter "North Korean provocations."
The defense minister's resignation came hours after he visited Yeonpyeong, home to military bases and a fishing community of 1,300 residents. It lies 80 kilometers from South Korea's western port of Incheon, and 11 kilometers from North Korean shores.
In addition to the two marines and two civilians killed in Tuesday's exchange, at least 18 people, mostly troops, were wounded.
Military officials analyzing debris have not ruled out North Korea's use of thermobaric bombs, which burn more violently and increase casualties and property destruction, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said.
The two Koreas are required to abide by an armistice signed at the close of their three-year war, but the North does not recognize the maritime line drawn by US-led UN forces in 1953 and considers South Korean maneuvers near Yeonpyeong a violation of its territory.
North Korea warned yesterday of "strong physical retaliations without hesitation if South Korean warmongers carry out reckless military provocations." Pyongyang also said Washington was partly to blame for letting South Korea hold artillery drills that it said prompted the artillery barrage.
Washington "should thoroughly control South Korea," it said. The warning was issued by North Korea's military mission at the truce village of Panmunjom and carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
In Seongnam, just outside Seoul, military officers, family members and dignitaries mourned the two marines killed in the attack, laying flowers and burning incense at an altar. Funerals will take place on Saturday.
President Lee Myung-bak accepted Kim Tae-young's resignation "to improve the atmosphere in the military and to handle the series of incidents," a presidential official said.
A new defense chief will be announced today, presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee said.
The move came as Lee vowed to send more troops to the frontline South Korean island and as residents tried to salvage belongings from the wreckage of their homes. North Korea warned of additional attacks if provoked.
North Korea fired a barrage of artillery shells at the island of Yeonpyeong off the peninsula's west coast on Tuesday, killing two civilians and two soldiers and destroying dozens of houses.
South Korean troops fired back 13 minutes later, causing unknown damage.
South Korea was conducting firing drills, though not in North Korea's direction, when the North Korean artillery barrage came.
Members of Lee's party and opposition lawmakers accused the military of responding too slowly.
Hours before Kim's resignation, lawmakers had lashed out at the government, claiming officials were unprepared for Tuesday's attack. Even those in Lee's ruling party demanded Kim's dismissal as well as those of military leaders and presidential aides.
At an emergency meeting in Seoul yesterday, Lee ordered top-level weapons for troops manning the tense Yellow Sea, a presidential aide said.
"We should not ease our sense of crisis in preparation for the possibility of another provocation by North Korea," presidential spokesman Hong Sang-pyo quoted Lee as saying. "A provocation like this can recur any time."
Hong said South Korea will sharply raise the number of ground troops on Yeonpyeong and four other islands, reversing a 2006 decision to draw down forces. He declined to discuss specifics but said troops there currently number about 4,000.
He also said the military would change its rules of engagement to better counter "North Korean provocations."
The defense minister's resignation came hours after he visited Yeonpyeong, home to military bases and a fishing community of 1,300 residents. It lies 80 kilometers from South Korea's western port of Incheon, and 11 kilometers from North Korean shores.
In addition to the two marines and two civilians killed in Tuesday's exchange, at least 18 people, mostly troops, were wounded.
Military officials analyzing debris have not ruled out North Korea's use of thermobaric bombs, which burn more violently and increase casualties and property destruction, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said.
The two Koreas are required to abide by an armistice signed at the close of their three-year war, but the North does not recognize the maritime line drawn by US-led UN forces in 1953 and considers South Korean maneuvers near Yeonpyeong a violation of its territory.
North Korea warned yesterday of "strong physical retaliations without hesitation if South Korean warmongers carry out reckless military provocations." Pyongyang also said Washington was partly to blame for letting South Korea hold artillery drills that it said prompted the artillery barrage.
Washington "should thoroughly control South Korea," it said. The warning was issued by North Korea's military mission at the truce village of Panmunjom and carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
In Seongnam, just outside Seoul, military officers, family members and dignitaries mourned the two marines killed in the attack, laying flowers and burning incense at an altar. Funerals will take place on Saturday.
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