NORTH KOREA ATTACKS SOUTH KOREAN ISLAND – At Least 2 Marines Dead …Update: Dictator-In-Waiting Linked to Attack
Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 5:12 AM
Smoke rises from South Korean Yeonpyeong Island after being hit by dozens of artillery shells fired by North Korea November 23, 2010. Several South Korean civilians and soldiers were wounded and many others were being evacuated to bunkers on Tuesday, a Seoul television reported. The island is located near the western maritime border between the two Koreas, 11 km (7 miles) from the North and about 115 km (71 miles) northwest of Seoul. (REUTERS/Yonhap)
As many as 200 shells were fired by the North on the island.
Firing between the two sides lasted for about an hour.
Two South Korean soldiers were killed today in an attack by the North Korean regime on an island near the Western sea border.
The AP reported:
South Korea says two marines have been killed and 16 others injured in a North Korean bombardment of a South Korean island near the countries’ disputed western sea border.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that it returned fire and scrambled fighter jets in response. It said the “inhumane” attack on civilian areas violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never negotiated.
The skirmish came amid high tension over North Korea’s claim that it has a new uranium enrichment facility, and just six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il unveiled his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his heir apparent.
One Free Korea has more on the attack.
UPDATE: The attack is linked to the 26 year-old dictator-in-waiting.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported:
NORTH KOREA has burnished the leadership credentials of its 26-year-old dictator-in-waiting with a deadly artillery attack on South Korean territory, causing its neighbour to return fire and scramble F-16 fighters.
Two South Korean marines died, and at least 12 were wounded. There were reports of civilian injuries and houses were set ablaze as scores of shells fell on Yeonpyeong island.
A North Korea expert at Beijing’s Central Party School, Zhang Liangui, told the Herald that Kim Jong-un was deliberately destabilising the environment in order to mobilise the military and consolidate his power.
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Published May 16, 2012 at 7:37 pm - 46 Comments
Male Silverback commented:
Will Obama offer a stiff penalty to the agressors and stand with our friends in the south?
or
Will Obama cower in the shadows and hope this goes away for the next Prez to deal with?
Hmmmmmmm
squeaky commented:
another test for the one we’ve waited for….1st the south korean ship that was sunk earlier..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wi8Fv0AJA4
and on that negotiating with the taliban to end hostilities in afghanistan
[Taliban Leader in Secret Talks Was an Impostor
By DEXTER FILKINS AND CARLOTTA GALL]
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/world/asia/23kabul.html?_r=1&src=twrhp
meanwhile the poor woman who confronted obama telling him she was tired of defending him has become a victim of the economy – i think he assured her that things would get better…
Granny commented:
Just to be clear, these appear to be South Korean Marines, not US Marines. That said, we do have plenty of troops in harms way in South Korea – and the Korean War has never actually ended.
Granny commented:
And over at Popular Mechanics, security experts say that the full body scanners will not catch anybody -
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/news/tsa-scans-security-theater-interview
RedBeard commented:
Somebody tell me again why we have a policy against assassinations. I keep forgetting why it’s better to leave a grotesque little cretin like Kim Jong MentallyIll in power, instead of having him mysteriously wake up dead some morning.
Granny commented:
#5 – RedBeard – as I recall off the top of my head, that is another gift from Jimmah Cahtah, but let me go check.
Militant Conservative commented:
#4 November 23, 2010 at 5:56 am
Granny commented:
Actually I was impressed at what the full body scanners could do. It picked up adheasive I had on my leg from a knee support I had removed a day prior to flying.
North Korea has been saber rattling for quite awhile. Attacking now is due to the weak president of the U.S. Skippy has not a clue, probably go on vacation/golfing again.
What a weak socialist affirmative action Erkel. Did I do that???? powder is dry.
squeaky commented:
“Will Obama cower in the shadows and hope this goes away for the next Prez to deal with?” cue eery music…will he even beat his chest a little before he ducks behind a rock. we know how well it served us to be represented by a man who thought empty threats would be enough – as bin laden called clinton out.
Granny commented:
Mea culpa – it was Ford.
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/11/04/us.assassination.policy/
Granny commented:
#7 November 23, 2010 at 6:03 am
Militant Conservative commented:
#4 November 23, 2010 at 5:56 am
Granny commented:
Actually I was impressed at what the full body scanners could do. It picked up adheasive I had on my leg from a knee support I had removed a day prior to flying.
________
Oh yes, they can show a lot, including whether or not you are circumcised. They just won’t show anything that is actually going to stop someone who wants to take down a plane.
_____________
North Korea has been saber rattling for quite awhile. Attacking now is due to the weak president of the U.S. Skippy has not a clue, probably go on vacation/golfing again.
What a weak socialist affirmative action Erkel. Did I do that???? powder is dry.
Nork has been saber rattling for some years now. I do find this development unsettling given that just yesterday it was revealed that the Nork had much more in the way of nuclear production than the US had figured they did. And note that the Norks have fairly consistently rattled their swords every time joint military exercises have been scheduled by the South. Those exercises are going on right now.
Male Silverback commented:
I wonder if this has anything to do with the newly found nuke site? Also, could the non-reaction to the missile being fired off of our coast have something to do with it?
Reaganite Republican commented:
As revelations of secret advances made in Pyongyang’s ability (2000+ centrifuges) to enrich uranium come to light over the weekend, some -like Krauthammer- have suggested arming the South with nuclear weaponry… looks like Dear Leader didn’t care for that prospect much…
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/2010/11/north-korea-nuclear-program-advancing.html
Granny commented:
#12 – Since he is a communist himself, I suspect that Dear Leader’s sympathies lie with Nork rather than South Korea. Expect him to do nothing or penalize the south.
It will be interesting to see if South Korea will face the same expectations to simply sit quietly and do nothing like Israel is expected to.
eaglewingz08 commented:
Gee, South Korea, how did that appeasement policy work out for you? Wonder if we’ll get a UN Security Council Resolution condemning North Korea? Naw, it’s not Israel, so it’s a no go.
Granny commented:
Debka reminds us that this is the second attack on South Korea by the north in 6 months. The Norks sank a S. Korean cruiser back in March.
Apparently Japan is pushing for a combined S. Korean, Japanese, US response. From Debka’s story -
donh commented:
Remember the missle off the California coast. This is China speaking. They don’t like how we are defrauding them on our debts by purchasing bonds with printed money. They see our weakness and take advantage. China is quantitatively easing North Korean missles.
Granny commented:
Our national security is in such trustworthy hands!
Nuclear weapons drivers sometimes got drunk
Ladue Pundit commented:
Slick Willie sent Madeline Albright and William Cohen to North Korea, bearing a $4 billion aid package for the North’s peaceful nuclear program.
We’re seeing the fruits of that now. They’ve always been part of the axis of evil.
Granny commented:
Knock me over with a feather! If you ever had a doubt about how important the US Constitution and our Bill of Rights (unique in the world you know) are, this should make it clear.
Right now in Vienna there is a woman named Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff on trial in Vienna for comments that she made while giving a seminar on islam. The “crime” that she is being tried for is “denigrating religious teachings.”
From the <a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/report of the first day of her trial -
Elisabeth finally tells about the First Amendment of the US Constitution, the absolute right to express ones’ opinions, as a fundamental prerequisite for a sound democracy.
Arch commented:
This is an extremely dangerous situation.
Watch the Japanese. What the ChiComms and Norks fear most is a nuclear armed Japan. Japan is probably a week away from testing a nuke. With no confidence in the U.S. and facing an aggressive nuclear equipped North Korea, I expect the Japanese Self Defence Force to assemble and detonate a weapon. The Taiwanese could follow suit in about six months. To put it mildly, these events would destabilize East Asia.
Mrs. X commented:
I feel really great about this situation, with the current occupants at 1600 Penn Ave.
Arch commented:
BTW, I earned my BA in Asian Studies at the University of Oklahoma in 1967.
Granny commented:
#21, Arch -
I certainly am not about to disagree with you. If Obama does nothing, this is exactly what I would expect to happen. Japan has long had the technology and expertise to put together a bomb at the drop of a pin. And I suspect that if push comes to shove they could produce one in much less than a week. As for Taiwan, they aren’t so shabby themselves technologically speaking. I’m not so sure it would take them a whole six months.
Destabilizing East Asia is really just the tip of the iceberg isn’t it? North Korea has long been the “running dog” of the Chinese.
RedBeard commented:
Arch, that is what I fear the most. This man-child incompetent bungler of a leftist we have in the White House has abdicated his responsibility as leader, and as a consequence he has left a huge void in the middle of world politics. Someone will fill that void, and it will likely be party or parties not to our liking.
Will we survive until January 20th, 2013?
donh commented:
Media fascists like Christiane Amanpour LOVE the smell of Authoritarianism in the morning. The far left media will push this attack by North Korea as an example of how Obama can advance his socialist revolution in 2011 having lost the House of Representatives. .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X12cZLve7wo
Muffin commented:
Can we impeach already? I mean, does anyone out there really have to wait two years to see this play out completely? Good grief, what an absentee moron. The man has checked out of all responsibility.
Useful Info Nation commented:
And what will TOTUS tell Obama to say about this? I hope it has a speech loaded that was originally for his enemies, the American people who don’t agree with him.
myohmy commented:
With news like this, our feckless dear leader will go on TV again….
Arch commented:
The first question a Commander-in-Chief should ask is, “Where are our carriers?” What Obama will ask will probably be, “Should I use a five iron or a six?”
The South Koreans are our allies and if they ask for our help, we will be in a third war, this one with an irrational nuclear armed and terminally ill madman. Things could unravel rapidly.
kansas commented:
President Barky, front and center!
Granny commented:
#27 November 23, 2010 at 7:25 am
Muffin commented:
Can we impeach already?
______________
No. First, the House has to bring a bill of impeachment. Until the new Congress is seated in January, the Republicans in this Congress don’t have enough power to fix a parking ticket, much less shove an Impeachment through. And the Dems just aren’t angry enough with him to help yet. Then the Senate has to hold a trial.
Richard Aubrey commented:
Read a history of the Korean War which said that the 1950 attack was also a matter of a faction in the rat fight of Nork politics to cement its position. Among other things, it wasn’t coordinated at the very beginning, says the author. The rest of the forces had to come along.
You’ll note that tyrannies have parallell armies. Wehrmacht and SS, Red Army and NKVD, Iranian army and the Revolutionary Guard, so forth. Usually their commanders are kept at each others’ throats in order to maintain a balancing act within the high levels. But the political boss can order one of them to do something without telling or ordering the other.
RedBeard commented:
According to the update, this mess was started by yet another pipsqueak cretin, Kim Jong-un, otherwise known as Mini-Me to Kim Jong Mentally-Ill. Lovely.
A number of North Koreans would be greatly improved by death.
bg commented:
++
well you see, Barry says if you appease vs stand up to a bully, they
won’t bully you or anyone else anymore.. sorry people, but we just
don’t get it, we’ll never be as brilliant as Barrry, so not to worry, he
has avowed he’s going to save US.. /s/
==
shibumi commented:
Prez Hussein will do…. nothing.
Well, either that or he’ll surrender to North Korea/China. I mean, the latter already own us, so maybe it’s just a formality.
/wish I was being totally sarcastic.
donh commented:
Obama’s response to this attack will be to sing his own rendition of Suicide is Painless… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVUXPjFWfX4&feature=related
TheTriGuy commented:
Muffin, et al., right now Impeachment is not an option. That would also act to destabilize this region as well as the Middle East. As much as I dislike this imposter, Barry must be voted out of office and turnover of our government to the next, more sensible, administration must be seen as normal as any other we’ve had for the past two hundred plus years.
However, that’s doesn’t say that some adult with some experience needs to pull Barry aside and tell him that now’s the time to at least act like a man and not get all we-we’d up. I think he will go full bore into his campaign mode now though by pointing out that our economy is really starting to hum and that what he’s done all by himself has saved us from disaster. I don’t think he will want to get within ten feet of this incident. His logic: he doesn’t want to escalate things. This, from the man who those on the left told us the world would listen to since he had all the answers.
Arch commented:
One good thing this incident may cause is Senate rejection of the START agreement. Facing North Korean aggression is no time to cut our number of delivery systems.
My hope is that Anderson AFB is recovering B52s, B1s and B2s and prepping them for a strike. Has anyone seen a change in the DEFCON? If it goes to 3, buy physical gold and go camping.
Dave-O commented:
Granny #15 & Donh #16 especially, but Redbeard, Arch, and many others – excellent commentary this morning.
Yes, our enemies are watching Urkel’s response (or lack thereof) – but our allies are watching even more closely. Is the United States a trusted ally any more? Perhaps they can ask Israel?
As the saying goes, “The Whole World is Watching” —
Further humiliation for Urkel & Co. – and us too, unfortunately, given our leadership in this case by the mighty Urkel.
A very dangerous and extremely volatile situation in the Far East.
No doubt time for Urkel to pardon the Thanksgiving turkey and go on vacation.
Ed commented:
What do you all think would Ronald Reagan do if this happened during his term? at the very least, a Reagan Administration would have issued a statement of condemnation within minutes of the attack, start mobilization of the US Navy’s 7th fleet towards the island that North Koreans attacked, and increase military flight operations around the region by 300% with battle ready aircraft with the mission to protect US and South Korean assets.
what do we see Obama doing at this time? he has the TSA issuing pleas for people not to participate in the “opt out” protest on thanksgiving day. We have a pathetic President that is turning a blind eye on a communist aggression towards one of our staunchest allies in the Far East just because South Korea didn’t give him a free trade agreement on Beef (I’ll bet you all that Obama is happy today to see his fellow communist punish South Korea for making him look bad on that failed Beef Free Trade agreement)!
If we don’t stand with our ally, South Korea, we will be giving Communism a new green light on a new “Domino Principle” that China has put in play these past few years. China has been building up its military and all of a sudden, North Korea has launched its most aggressive military strike against South Korea when it sank a South Korean Sub, now an attack on a South Korean island.
North Korea’s getting bolder with strong backing from China that has beefed up their military capabilities. look for Communist insurgency in other countries in the far east to start getting bolder in the next few years and watch for Obama to not do anything since he is a communist himself and is much in awe of Communist China which Soros himself declared as having a much better government than the US.
is not clear to anyone where Obama’s loyalties fall? Our economy being destroyed so that our military might gets weaker, then a new communist surge starts in the far east with our own government not even voicing any protests on all North Korean attacks against South Korea. I’m sorry folks, but we are going to be in a new cold war but it is looking like the US is lagging this time, both economically and militarily!
IOpian commented:
One thing to keep in mind is that the Norks don’t have the fuel to endure much of a military endeavor. They have a couple of shots then it is game over for them.
Mark commented:
Impeach Barry the Commie/muzzie? Fabulous idea, then Joe Butthead becomes President. Snort. Little Mohammed has a great political life insurance policy.
John Cooper commented:
Under the 1953 “Mutual Defense Pact” with S. Korea, the united states is OBLIGATED to come to the aid of S. Korea when attacked.
Amy Proctor commented:
Jim, the good news is that everyone here is safe (except for the soldiers and civilians who were injured and killed in the attacks)
The bad anews is that North Korea gets to do what it wants and the South never response. They’ll hold a meeting to “discuss it” but that’s it.
What happened when the North torpedoed a south korean ship killing 46 sailors in March 201? NOthing.
The people here are living sunshine policy without recognizing that IT FAILS.
Neo commented:
So it wasn’t 6 months .. OK, I’ll give him that.
aprilnovember811 commented:
#48 November 23, 2010 at 9:21 am
John Cooper commented:
Under the 1953 “Mutual Defense Pact” with S. Korea, the united states is OBLIGATED to come to the aid of S. Korea when attacked.
Rules don’t apply to Barry and his friends. After all, he was born in Kenya, remains an Indonesian citizen, is working for the CPUSA and Weather Underground, and everyone refers to him as president? Americans will never lose their tombstone mentality. I guess NBC and Matt Lauer didn’t have room on their ballot for Kim Jung Il as person of the year.
Kevin commented:
Frankly, NK could fight for 72-96 hours and they will have blown their wad. They have no fuel, do little to no training, and for years Kim Jung Il has forbidden direct communication between military units. Kind of hard to coordinate military actions under those circumstances.
Now they could do a ton of harm in those 72-96 hours, but a sustained attack is not something they are able to accomplish. South Korean troops, without us, are well trained and well equipped, and they would quickly overwhelm the NK forces.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that Obama is still president.
Lil commented:
Odd “coincidence”, isn’t it, that Mr. Obama was just on his Asian vaca…
VeryConcerned commented:
Time for puss.n.hoops to run to the UN and have them write Nork a nasty letter. That will teach them a lesson and put them in their place.
NORTH KOREA SUCKS commented:
The North Koreans are a bunch of small-dicked pussies that feel the need to bully others with war. They are also pissed off that South Koreans have more beautiful women. Which is a result of North Koreans abusing their women when they laugh at their small North Korean dicks.
Arch commented:
UK Telegraph is reporting:
Naoto Kan, Japan’s prime minister, said he had ordered his ministers to prepare for any eventuality.
“I ordered (ministers) to make preparations so that we can react firmly, should any unexpected event occur,” Mr Kan said.
“We will make preparations so that whatever happens, we will be able to deal with it.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/8153291/South-Korea-warns-North-Korea-it-will-sternly-retaliate-to-any-further-provocation.html
Chisum commented:
John Bolton on North Korea
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-bolton-northkorea-20101123,0,3330920.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+latimes/news/opinion/commentary+(L.A.+Times+-+Commentary)
Arch commented:
The South Korean defence minister just asked us to deploy in tactical nukes. In 1970, my squadron deployed to Kunsan AB and sit nuke alert in reaction to the Norks shoot down of an EC-121. In 1993, the RoKs made us ship out nukes home. I guess “denuclearization” of the peninsula didn’t work out as planned.
I think we have a wing of F16s at the Kun and a composite wing of F15s at Osan. This isn’t a fun time of year to be in Korea.
Conservative Ken commented:
Yet another ally Hussein will hang out to dry.
silentcal_rox commented:
BUT, not to worry! that mighty army topped with powder blue helmets, the UN will step in and practice their usual wussy warfare, and bring not only the Noreans to their commie knees, but all evil doers in the world will be talked into an everlasting coma by that great pistol of peace. Jimmah carter will be proud!