이 대통령은 이날 밤 합동참모본부 지휘통제실을 전격 방문해 "아직도 북한이 공격태세를 갖추고 있음을 볼 때 추가도발도 예상되므로 몇배의 화력으로 응징해야 한다는 생각을 가져야 한다"며 이같이 밝혔다고 홍상표 청와대 홍보수석이 전했다.
Yonhap translated it right. The trouble is that Lee did not make it clear whether the retaliation is for the attack already committed or the one which is yet to come. I think he meant the latter. He is not exactly precise with his words.
At the very least he could order the offending artillery batteries smoked.
LONDON: Seoul wants to avoid worsening tensions after North Korean artillery attacked a South Korean island on Tuesday but would react "much harder" militarily if the strikes escalated, a South Korean government adviser said.
Chung Min Lee, an ambassador-level foreign ministry expert who advises the government on security, told Reuters in a telephone interview he did not see the situation escalating into war but South Korea's stance would change if matters worsened.
Asked if he agree with a remark by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that there was a 'colossal danger' of an escalation in fighting on the Korean peninsula, he replied: "It all depends on what further provocations North Korea chooses to mount.
"I don't foresee this escalating into major war on the peninsula, but if North Korea decides they want to push us a little bit further back by additional attacks on our territory, then we will respond militarily, including the possibility of taking out their artillery sites with our aircraft.