Confusion as South Korea cancels military drills
South Korea today announced a provocative series of front-line military exercises on the island shelled by North Korea last week, then immediately postponed them.
The move was taken as sign of disarray hours after the president vowed to get tough on the North.
Similar live-fire manoeuvres by South Korean troops last week triggered the North’s bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island that killed four people and drew return fire in a clash that set the region on edge.
The new drills originally planned for tomorrow could have had even higher stakes: South Korean and American warships are currently engaged in separate military exercises in waters to the south.
Officials at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the latest drills were postponed after the marine unit on the island mistakenly announced them without getting final approval from higher military authorities.
The cancellation had nothing to do with North Korea, and the drills will take place later, one said.
Pyongyang had warned last week that it would consider any South Korean drills off Yeonpyeong Island a deliberate provocation and territorial violation, and urged Seoul to call off last week’s exercises. The artillery attack came after South Korea went ahead with its drills.
Earlier today President Lee Myung-bak gave his first address to the nation in nearly a week, taking responsibility for failing to protect his citizens, expressing outrage at the North’s “ruthlessness” and vowing tough consequences for any future aggression.
Mr Lee has come under criticism for what opponents have called lapses in South Korea’s response to the attack just eight months after the sinking of a South Korean warship in nearby waters that killed 46 sailors.
Hours after his speech, authorities on Yeonpyeong Island announced new live-fire drills for tomorrow morning, warning residents by loudspeaker to take shelter in underground bunkers well in advance. Another announcement later in the evening said there would be no exercise.
Meanwhile, a nuclear-powered US supercarrier and a South Korean destroyer carried out joint military exercises in the waters south of the island in a united show of force by the allies.
Under pressure to take stronger action in dealing with the defiant North, Lee lashed out at Pyongyang today.
“Only a few metres away from where shells landed, there is a school where classes were going on,” Mr Lee said. “I am outraged by the ruthlessness of the North Korean regime, which is even indifferent to the lives of little children.”
In the past week, Mr Lee has replaced his defence minister, ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands, and upgraded the military rules of engagement.
Minutes later, North Korea issued another threat to attack South Korea and the United States, calling the allies’ joint war drills “yet another grave military provocation.”
The two Koreas are required to abide by an armistice signed in 1953 at the close of their three-year war.
However North Korea does not recognise the maritime border drawn by the UN at the close of the war, and considers the waters around Yeonpyeong Island – just seven miles from its shores – its territory.
