A little flavor from the Korean newspapers and editorials today. Let’s just say the rhetoric is ALOT tougher than after the Cheonan . . .
From: http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%...24-248875.html
“S.Korean papers seek revenge for attack by North
Wed, Nov 24, 2010
AFP
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean newspapers on Wednesday angrily branded North Korea’s deadly artillery attack a war crime, with many saying their country must not hesitate to strike back.
“A club is the only medicine for a mad dog,” said Dong-A Ilbo, calling the shelling a “war crime” and demanding a strong military riposte against the reclusive communist state.
“North Korea is putting a dagger to our throat,” the Chosun Ilbo daily warned. “Let’s retaliate against North Korea’s illegal attacks immediately, sternly and precisely.”
“Attacking civilian areas is a war crime prohibited even during wartime,” it said of Tuesday’s attack on the Yellow Sea island of Yeonpyeong, in which two marines were killed and 18 people including three civilians were wounded. “When we are faced with an enemy attack, the only thing that is required is a firmly determined spirit to respond by doing far greater damage against our enemy than they have inflicted on us,” Chosun Ilbo said.
The nuclear-armed state’s artillery assault, and South Korea’s response in firing back, was one of the worst border incidents since the Korean War ended nearly six decades ago.
The JoongAng Ilbo decried “the North’s indiscriminate attack” and said: “Let’s retaliate with national resolution. The Korean peninsula is on fire... we can never tolerate an attack on civilians.”
Like other newspapers, it mentioned North Korea’s nuclear programme, after the regime this month showed a US academic around a modern uranium reprocessing facility outside the capital Pyongyang.
“Their aggression will never weaken. The North’s leadership has demonstrated its viciousness and lack of conscience,” the paper said.
“We should launch an attack of retaliation and revenge. The responsibility falls solely on the North.”
The paper added: “We have to showcase that we are far outpacing the North not only in terms of wealth but also in terms of spirit and organisation.”
Its English-language sister paper the JoongAng Daily said that “North Korea’s provocation has gone beyond our imagination”.
“With our memories of the Korean War still vivid, this massive attack confirms again the grim reality that such a tragedy can be repeated at any time,” it said.
“We strongly warn the North that if it still prefers to play with fire, it is soon destined to be demolished by the fire it ignited first.” The paper said that “this provocation justifies any retaliation by us”.
Another English-language daily, the Korea Times, pointed out that the attack was the first against South Korean civilians since it blew up a Korean Air jet in 1987, and the first against an island since the 1950-53 Korean war.
“The attack appears to be part of the North’s attempt to consolidate internal grip on the way for the success of Kim Jong-Un,” the daily said, referring to the leader’s youngest son and designated successor.
“Seoul should prepare for additional bizarre provocative acts from the North, including its third nuclear test, as the North consolidates the power of Kim Jong-Un and prepares for the centenary of the birth of its founder Kim Il-Sung in 2012,” the daily said.
It also argued that “the only victim of the provocation should be North Korea. At a time when everyone is living outside a Cold War, Pyongyang is living in a Cold War.”