SEOUL, South Korea
— Emotions remained raw throughout the Korean peninsula on Sunday as a
U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived for joint American-South Korean
naval exercises, prompting North Korea to ready surface-to-surface missiles on launch pads along the Yellow Sea.
The maneuvers followed a North Korean artillery attack last week that killed four and injured 20 on South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island.
For a time on Sunday, remaining residents on the tiny isle were ordered
into evacuation shelters after reports of the sound of North Korean
artillery.
Bitter enemies, South Korea and North Korea blame the other for the attack, which South Korea called the first northern strike against southern territory in more than half a century. North Korea says the South fired first in provocation and then used civilians as “human shields.”
North Korea also lashed out at the U.S., saying the U.S. used the South’s attack as a ploy to send the aircraft carrier George Washington and its 75 bomber jets and crew of 6,000 into the Yellow Sea. The carrier is accompanied by at least four other warships.
China, which has
also expressed unease at the presence of the U.S. firepower so close to
its borders, sent a delegation of foreign ministry officials to Seoul late Saturday for talks, at which they reportedly also discussed ending North Korea’s nuclear program.
On Sunday, Chinese media reported that a high-ranking North Korean official will visit Beijing in coming days. Choe Tae Bok, the head of the North Korean parliament, is the most senior visitor from North Korea since the North-South skirmish erupted.
Tuesday’s attack set in motion a fast-forward series of events, starting with criticism of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak for his military’s tepid response to the shelling.
South Korea’s
defense minister resigned his post Thursday, a move applauded by many
who blamed the ministry for mishandling the North’s alleged sinking in
March of a Southern warship that killed 46 sailors.
Analysts call the North’s provocations a campaign to
rally its citizenship and boost its million-man military apparatus as
Kim Jong Il transfers power to his youngest son. North Korea may also be testing perceived weaknesses in South Korea’s defenses before it resumes its place at the long-stalled six-party nuclear talks.
Threats from North and South continued over the weekend.
On Saturday, North Korea’s state-controlled media warned against the war games. In Seoul, as officials held an emotional funeral for two South Korean marines killed in Tuesday’s shelling attack, South Korea’s marine commander promised a “thousand-fold” retaliation.
On Sunday, as a flotilla of ships took position in the Yellow Sea south of Yeonpyeong Island for maneuvers, there were reports of North Korean artillery firing, but no shells hit the beleaguered islet.
Still, Seoul officials were poised for the North to follow up on threats after a statement from North Korea
on Sunday that read, in part, “We will deliver a brutal military blow
on any provocation which violates our territorial waters.”
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