Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report November 23, 2010, 11:53 AM (GMT+02:00)
Tags:
USS George Washington in Korean waters
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called President Barak Obama urgently in the wake of the North Korean artillery attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong island near the Yellow Sea border early Tuesday, Nov. 23 and demanded a US-South Korean-Japanese military reprisal. Two South Korean marines were killed and 17 injured in the attack.
He also demanded that the UN Security Council be convened immediately on the crisis. He put the same demands to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in another call. Naoto Kan then ordered his ministers to prepare for "unexpected events."
Washington said it is watching the situation but is not militarily involved after strongly condemning the attack and calling for an end to belligerence.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that the Korean clash has prompted a special alert in the US Seventh Fleet headquarters at Yokosuka in Japan, together with the naval forces stationed there including the USS George Washington aircraft carrier. They are covering South Korea's massive annual military exercises involving some 70,000 troops scheduled to last from Monday through Nov. 30.
Pyongyang has called past exercises a direct military threat on the North.
The Japanese prime minister said that North Korea cannot be permitted to carry out two armed attacks on the South in the space of eight months without facing any military counteraction. On March 26, North Korean torpedoes sunk the South Korean Cheonan cruiser. At least 46 seamen were lost.
Obama's refusal to respond to the Japanese call, despite the presence of 28,000 US troops on the Korean armistice border – even with limited military action - would devalue the US defensive umbrella pledged South Korea and Japan against North Korean aggression. It would also place in doubt American resolve for firm action against Iran. Washington's avoidance of military action against Pyongyang will resonate loudly across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.
The clash of the Koreas erupted the day after the disclosure of a new uranium enrichment facility in North Korea prompted suspicions that Pyongyang was about to renew its production of nuclear weapons.
and also, from Debka files:
South Korea on war alert after North shells border island
DEBKAfile Special Report November 23, 2010, 11:41 AM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile Special Report November 23, 2010, 11:41 AM (GMT+02:00)
Tags:
Fire sweeps South Korean border island from artillery attack
South Korea returned the fire after dozens of North Korean artillery shells killed two marines, injured 17 soldiers and 3 civilians on Yeonpyeong island near the tense Yellow Sea border. The authorities were struggling to evacuate the tiny island as fires raged out of control in scores of buildings. Jets were scrambled overhead as South Korean leaders met in the presidential bunker in Seoul. The military declared its highest non-wartime alert and warned of a stronger response if N. Korean provocations continue. South Korean President President Lee Myung-bak said a firm response was called for and ordered officials to make sure the firing wouldn't escalate. SKorean central bank executes held an emergency meeting in Seoul.
The White House strongly condemned the attack and callsed for a halt to belligerent action. The Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan ordered its ministers to prepare for "unexpected events" in reference to the worst clash on the peninsula since the Korean war 50 years ago. China and Russian expressed concern over the shelling and Beijing called for an urgent Six Power meeting on the crisis.
It erupted the day after the disclosure that a new uranium enrichment facility had begun working in North Korea prompted suspicions that Pyongyang was about to renew its production of nuclear weapons.
The clash came as South Korea launched a massive annual military exercises involving some 70,000 troops scheduled to last from Monday through Nov. 30. North Korea has complained about these exercises in the past.
