Artillery fire on Korean border
 

This is dominating the Japanese news, for good reason. This is from the BBC.

BBC News - Artillery fire on Korean border

South Korea says it has returned fire after North Korea fired around 200 artillery shells onto one of its border islands, reportedly killing one marine.

The South's military was placed on its highest non-wartime alert after the shells landed on Yeonpyeong island.

North Korea has not yet commented on the incident, in which three marines and two civilians were also injured.

Correspondents say this is one of the most serious since the the Korean War ended without a peace treaty in 1953.

There have been occasional cross-border clashes since, but the latest incident comes at a time of rising regional tension.

North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il is believed to be ill and trying to engineer the succession of his youngest son. And on Saturday, North Korea showed off what it claimed was a new uranium enrichment facility - potentially giving it a second route to a nuclear weapon.

The move prompted the US special representative for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, to rule out the resumption of six-party talks on resolving the nuclear issue.

South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Hee-jung also said it was investigating a possible link between the artillery attack and recent maritime exercises near the western sea border earlier on Tuesday.

'Illegal firing'
South Korean officials said artillery rounds began landing on Yeonpyeong island, near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border about 100km (60 miles) west of the Korean Peninsula.

You can see more information by clicking the link.

This is the second time in a few months that North-Korea has attacked South-Korea. If the South doesn't respond by bombing them, I think this will continue.

So if they respond, everything will be fine?
Please go an play some war games to pass the time, every post you made is annoyingly aimed towards it. And every topic also. I think you don't even understand what a military conflict does to a country and its population.

This seems to be another attempt by the North not to appear weak during the so-called "transition" period between Kim Jong-Il and his son. It's another attempt to show they are ready for anything the South and its allies may throw at them. I seriously doubt if the South would have used this period as a means to usurp power and reunite the country.

I hope this resolves itself peacefully. Seoul is a stone's throw from the DMZ and I'm sure there are plenty of very concerned and scared people there and all over the country.

I am baffled as to the reasoning behind this act. Is the North so desperate for attention they have to resort to violence to be noticed? I would seriously doubt if her neighbors condone this course of action. I'm sure the UN Security Council will meet over this today and we'll see what happens.

Here's to hoping it resolves itself peacefully....

Do you ever think before commenting?!?! :mad:

Yes, I believe this is grand standing for the transition and that South Korea will not provoke open warfare, or push the reunification issue any more now than they have been for the last few years.

Once Kim Jong-Il is gone, though, reunification will certainly be raised again. It comes up periodically, but there is no telling when progress will be made or how.

You know, I may get a warning or even banned for life on this forum, but I really can't overlook this..........I was reading some of your post, and I see that you are pro-war, then I found a thread where you indicate yourself as Arab, and you wonder why people stereotype...............

Arab's are stereotyped as pro-South Korean Hawks??? :confused:

Remember when a South Korean naval vessel was sunken near the North Korean coastlines? People say that North Korea did this. Do you know what the South Korean government did to North Korea?

Nothing.

The South Korean response for this incident?

Nothing.

North Korea is better off brewing a civil war in South Korea than creating an actual military conflict.

I was talking about pro-war

Eh?

That was a bit of a stretch...