The Dear Leader is playing with his artillery

[Egbert]

Edited to remove "pretty sloppy cut and paste job".
See next post for for a much better cut and paste job.

Thanks Snotty.

[Snotty]

pretty sloppy cut and paste job there mate

South Korea says it has returned fire after North Korea fired around 200 artillery shells at 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 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.

It also comes just over a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was appointed to senior political and military posts, fuelling speculation that he was being prepared to succeed him.
'Illegal firing'

A spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean shells had started falling in the waters off the island of Yeonpyeong at 1434 (0534 GMT). Some later landed directly on the island.

The South's military immediately fired back some 80 rounds in self-defence, Col Lee Bung-woo added.

A resident on the island, where between 1,200 and 1,300 people live, told the AFP news agency that dozens of houses were damaged, while television pictures showed plumes of smoke rising above the island.

"Houses and mountains are on fire and people are evacuating. You can't see very well because of plumes of smoke," a witness on the island told YTN television station. "People are frightened to death."

The military said one marine was killed and three others were injured, according to South Korea's YTN television. Two civilians were also hurt.

The South Korean military has also deployed fighter jets to Yeonpyeong, lies near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border, about 100km (60 miles) west of the Korean Peninsula.


However, President Lee Myung-bak urged officials attending an emergency cabinet meeting to try to prevent any further escalation.

A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said that both countries should "do more to contribute to peace".

"What's imperative now is to restart six-party talks as soon as possible," Hong Lei told a news conference in Beijing.

The impact has already been felt on financial markets, with both the Korean won and the Japanese yen falling in value.

This western maritime border, also known as the Northern Limit Line, has been the scene of numerous clashes in the past.

In March, a South Korean warship went down near the border with the loss of 46 lives. International investigators say a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, although Pyongyang has denied any role in the incident.

Since then relations between the two neighbours have remained tense.

North Korea: Timeline 2010

26 March: South Korean warship, Cheonan, sinks, killing 46 sailors

20 May: Panel says a North Korean torpedo sank the ship; Pyongyang denies involvement

July-September: South Korea and US hold military exercises; US places more sanctions on Pyongyang

29 September: North holds rare party congress seen as part of father-to-son succession move

29 October: Troops from North and South Korea exchange fire across the land border

12 November: North Korea shows US scientist new - undeclared - uranium enrichment facility

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11818005

[Snotty]

Somewhat comically the norths position is that they didnt start it

''There is confusion about what triggered the shelling, with the North's military insisting it did not open fire first.''

[MikeH]

They would say that.

[dannubis]

"I was cleaning my gun and it went of, Sir"

[rah]

I'm waiting for them to send a million troops over the border and then later say that they were attacked first.

[Lorizael]

North Korea is a poo poo head, of course, but I love South Korea's description of the event as an "inhumane atrocity."

[rah]

Yes, reconciliation will be happening quite soon.

[Argus]

It will be tough for the US to help against North Korea should war break out since we are spread so thin in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[rah]

Why would the US help North Korea? DOH

[N35t0r]

Han shot first.

[rah]

Not according to our fearless leader. They even clarified it in the re-release just in case you were in doubt.

[Wezil]

I love the response:

"Do it again and we'll get really upset."



Just admit you won't do **** and shut the **** up already.

[Hauldren Collider]

I'm shocked South Korea hasn't invaded the North yet. If someone sank a US ship and shelled one of our cities we'd be bombing them to the stone age before you could say "strongly condemned".

Given that the US has a bunch of troops and a fleet already deployed to the region, I don't think it would take more than a day or two to topple the North's government.

[BeBMan]

If it was that easy who's holding back the US?