Incheon, SOUTH KOREA (AP)
After NKorea’s retaliation warning
South Korea’s president vowed Thursday to boost security around islands near the site of a 
North Korean artillery attack while the North warned of more retaliation if the South carries out any “reckless military provocations.” South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s comments came during an emergency meeting on security and economic impacts of the exchange of fire Tuesday that left four South Koreans dead – including two civilians – and put the region on edge. The North’s bombardment of a tiny South Korean island along a disputed maritime frontier sparked a brief skirmish and alarmed world leaders including President Barack Obama, who reaffirmed plans for joint maneuvers with Seoul in the Yellow Sea starting Sunday.
“We should not let our guard down in preparation for another possible North Korean provocation,” Lee said, according to Yonhap news agency.
The North made no specific mention of the joint military exercises involving the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. But, it warned, its “military will launch second and third strong physical retaliations without hesitation if South Korean warmongers carry out reckless military provocations.”
The North’s statement said Washington was to blame for South Korean artillery exercises earlier in the week near disputed waters which prompted the North to respond with its artillery barrage on Yeongpyeong island Tuesday.
Washington “should thoroughly control South Korea to ensure they won’t continue adventurous military provocations” such as violation of the countries’ disputed sea border, it said. The warning was issued by North Korea’s military’s mission at the truce village of Panmunjom and was carried by the country’s official Korean Central News Agency.
South Korea said it will increase diplomatic efforts toward China to secure Beijing’s help over North Korea’s provocation, according to Yonhap. Repeated calls to the presidential office seeking confirmation went unanswered.
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