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South Korea Announces, Then Cancels New Military Drill

   VOA News 29 November 2010
   South  Korean marines guard on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Monday,
   Nov. 29, 2010.

Photo: AP

   South Korean marines guard on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Nov. 29,
   2010.

   South  Korean  forces announced - but then called off - a second round
   of live fire exercises on Yeonpyeong island - that would have repeated
   the  drill  that  sparked a fatal artillery barrage on the island from
   North Korea last week.
   Residents  of  the  island  had  been  warned  by loudspeakers to take
   shelter in bunkers beginning Tuesday morning.  But military officials
   said  late  Monday  the  drill  has  been  canceled.  They offered no
   explanation.
   Tensions  already  are  running  high  as  U.S. and South Korean naval
   vessels  conduct  exercises  in  nearby  waters  in  the  Yellow Sea.Â
   Earlier  Monday,  President Lee Myung-bak apologized to the nation for
   the  weak  response  to the North Korean attack and promised Pyongyang
   will "pay a dear price" if it attacks again.
   North  Korea says it attacked the island, killing two soldiers and two
   civilians,  because  the  South  ignored  its warning not to fire into
   disputed   waters   around  the  island.  It  says  any  further  such
   provocation will be met with a "merciless" attack.
   Last  week's  attack,  involving  more than 100 artillery shells, also
   wounded  18  people  and  destroyed  numerous buildings on the island,
   which  lies  just  12 kilometers off the North Korean coast. The South
   fired  about  80  artillery  rounds  and  scrambled  jet  fighters  in
   response.
   However   South  Korea's  opposition  parties  and  public  have  been
   demanding  a  tougher  response.  The South already has reinforced its
   garrisons on Yeonpyeong and four other islands and rewritten its rules
   of engagement to permit a more robust reply to future attacks.
   China,  facing intense international pressure to rein in its allies in
   Pyongyang,  called  for  on  Sunday  an  emergency  meeting of the six
   nations  that  have  been  trying to negotiate an end to North Korea's
   nuclear programs. South Korea and the United States have said they are
   studying the proposal but say they are reluctant to reward North Korea
   for bad behavior.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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