The artillery barrage fired by North Korean troops at a South Korean island has brought the volatile region to the brink of a conflict that could have consequences far beyond the peninsula those countries share, experts said.
The Obama administration is consulting with the Chinese and other powers over a response to the surprise attack that left at least two South Korean marines dead, and sent civilians fleeing from the island of Yeonpyeong, 75 miles west of Seoul. South Korea scrambled F-16 fighters and attempted to take out artillery that had fired dozens of rounds at the island.
The South Korean government, already stung by an incident earlier this year in which a Naval ship was sunk by a North Korean mine, promised a swift and deadly response to the attack.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters late Tuesday that “everybody involved is stunned by North Korea’s provocative actions. We are working again within an established framework with our partners so we have a deliberate approach to this. We’re not going to respond willy nilly.”
A US official, with knowledge of the unfolding situation in North Korea said the regime is flexing its muscle to revive stalled negotiations between the neighbors and the U.S., China, Russia and Japan over economic aid for the bereft regime, and preventing nuclear proliferation in the North. “It’s ironic, but not surprising, to see North Korea committing provocative and aggressive acts in order to revive the talks,” he said.
According to news reports Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered his military to strike a North Korean missile base near the Korean border in the West Sea if Kim Jong-Il’s regime launches further attacks. Retaliation would be “multiple-fold” against his communist neighbor, Myung-bak said during an emergency meeting with security ministers and military commanders, according to South Korean news reports.
Tensions on the peninsula had increased over the weekend after reports revealed a huge nuclear facility in North Korea.
The Seoul government was reportedly weighing whether to ask the U.S. to return tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. The U.S. removed those weapons in the 1990s.
Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a Pentagon spokesman, said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates was “scheduled to talk with the [South] Korean Defense Minister this Tuesday morning by phone,” but that he had no updates on the conversation. The U.S. has 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, many stationed along the Demilitarized Zone between the countries.
Doug Bandow, with the CATO Institute in Washington DC, said the North Korean regime’s aggression coupled with the recent discovery of the nation’s new uranium enrichment facility “underscore the North’s reputation for recklessness.”
Bandow said “the U.S. should join with the [South Koreans] in an intensive diplomatic offensive in Beijing.”
“So far China has assumed that the Korean status quo is to its advantage. However, Washington and Seoul should point out that Beijing has much to lose if things go badly in North Korea,” he vsaid.
Another U.S. official, with direct knowledge of North Korea, told The Examiner that surprise military attacks by North Korea created tough calls for American commanders who want to defend South Korea without overreacting and creating a broader war.
“Our intelligence assets in North Korea are limited and nil at best, and that’s why the regime’s moves are always so surprising to us,” he said.
