Photo Credit: AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
The United States and South Korea prepared for war games on Sunday, as a reaction to the North Korean attack on South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island.
Four South Koreans, two civilians and two military personnel, were killed after North Korea fired shells at the Island,making it one of the worst attacks on South Korean soil since wartime. Many believe the increase in aggression is linked to the North’s upcoming transfer of power from Kim Jong-il to his heir, Kim Jong-eun.
President Lee Myung Bak, who has vowed severe retribution, replaced former Defense Minister Kim Tae-young with Kim Kwan-jin, after the public criticized Kim Tae-young for a slow and inadequate response to both the Yeonpyeong attack as well as the Cheonan torpedo incident.
The North, on the other hand, has been issuing statements attempting to deflect blame, claiming that civilians were used as a “human shield” around artillery positions on the island.
The North also claimed that the United States was “the arch criminal who deliberately planned the incident and wire-pulled it behind the scene,” after learning about Sunday’s war games.
The U.S. has insisted that the war games were planned well before Tuesday’s attack, and will continue as planned.
