Island attack boosted S. Korea’s will to strike back against North
By Chico Harlan, WashPost, Published: April 14
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — North Korea’s fatal artillery attack on this border island more than two years ago uprooted old wooden houses from their foundations. One shell punctured the concrete side of a soccer stadium. Another struck a rooftop oil tank. Residents rushed to underground bunkers, and when they emerged hours later, much of their island was aflame.
Among dozens of North-led provocations against the South over decades, the shelling of Yeonpyeong — which killed two marines and two construction workers — is far from the deadliest or most audacious. But the attack carries oversize importance as tensions again soar between the Koreas, because it redefined the South’s thinking about how strongly its military should respond if attacked again.
South Korean officials cite Yeonpyeong as an instance in which their forces returned fire too late and too timidly — a mistake that they pledge will not be repeated. If faced with a similar attack, President Park Geun-hye has told her military, the South should strike back “without political consideration” and without waiting for top-level approval.
South Korea’s hardened line, analysts say, provides an important backdrop as North Korea threatens the region — and the United States — with nuclear and more small-scale artillery attacks. The prospect of a South Korean counterstrike, the analysts say, might explain why the North hasn’t made good on any of its recent threats. But it also means that if the North does attack, the conflict is far likelier to escalate.
(More here.)
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — North Korea’s fatal artillery attack on this border island more than two years ago uprooted old wooden houses from their foundations. One shell punctured the concrete side of a soccer stadium. Another struck a rooftop oil tank. Residents rushed to underground bunkers, and when they emerged hours later, much of their island was aflame.
Among dozens of North-led provocations against the South over decades, the shelling of Yeonpyeong — which killed two marines and two construction workers — is far from the deadliest or most audacious. But the attack carries oversize importance as tensions again soar between the Koreas, because it redefined the South’s thinking about how strongly its military should respond if attacked again.
South Korean officials cite Yeonpyeong as an instance in which their forces returned fire too late and too timidly — a mistake that they pledge will not be repeated. If faced with a similar attack, President Park Geun-hye has told her military, the South should strike back “without political consideration” and without waiting for top-level approval.
South Korea’s hardened line, analysts say, provides an important backdrop as North Korea threatens the region — and the United States — with nuclear and more small-scale artillery attacks. The prospect of a South Korean counterstrike, the analysts say, might explain why the North hasn’t made good on any of its recent threats. But it also means that if the North does attack, the conflict is far likelier to escalate.
(More here.)
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