South Korea Marines vow thousand-fold revenge

[Guest guest]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/101127/n_top_news/cnews_us_korea_north1

South Korea Marines vow " thousand-fold " revenge

39 minutes ago

By Cheon Jong-woo and Kim Kyoung-hoon

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Marine commander on Saturday vowed " thousand

-fold " revenge for a North Korean attack that killed two servicemen as

protesters demanded tougher action by the government against its reclusive

neighbor.

The two Marines were honored with a gun salute as families wailed and grim-faced

officials saluted the funeral cortege, days after North Korea rained shells on a

tiny island in the heaviest attack on South Korea since the 1950-53 civil war.

" All Marines, including Marines on service and reserve Marines, will avenge the

two at any cost, keeping today's anger and hostility in mind, " Lieutenant

General Yoo Nak Joon, commander of the South Korean Marine Corps, said, speaking

in front of a hearse lightly dusted by snow.

" We will put our feelings of rage and animosity in our bones and take our

revenge on North Korea. "

Two Marines and two civilians were killed in the attack. The funeral was

followed by three separate anti-North Korea protests in the capital as a U.S.

nuclear-powered aircraft carrier headed for joint maneuvers with South Korea on

Sunday, infuriating North Korea and prompting a warning from its only major

ally, China.

" It's time for action. Time for retaliation. Let's hit the presidential palace

in Pyongyang, " shouted close to 1,000 Marine veterans in downtown Seoul who

burned photographs of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his anointed

successor, son Kim Jung-un.

Elsewhere, members of the " Underwater-Demolition Team, " practised in sabotage,

protested against North Korea and against the government for ignoring their

sacrifices on spy missions. Scuffles broke out and police used

fire-extinguishers to break up the crowd.

President Lee Myung-bak held a meeting of security officials, Yonhap news agency

said. South Korea's new defense minister called for tougher action, local media

reported. A Seoul newspaper also reported the government plans to sharply

increase defense spending next year.

" We need to deal with North Korea's provocations strongly, " Defense Minister Kim

Kwan-jin was quoted as telling presidential aides by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

" We need to hit back multiple times as hard. "

NOT STRONG ENOUGH

Lawmakers have blasted President Lee Myung-bak's government for not responding

strongly enough. The defense minister resigned, taking responsibility, and Kim,

a career soldier, was appointed in his place.

Regional giant China has said it is determined to prevent an escalation of the

violence but warned against military acts near its coast as U.S. and South

Korean forces prepare for exercises in the Yellow Sea.

A North Korean website (http://www.uriminzokkiri) operated by the government

propaganda agency said the war drills were " another unforgivable military

provocation. "

" (The North) will make the stronghold of the enemy a sheet of flames if they

violate its territory even by 0.01 mm. "

The U.S. military said the exercises, planned long before Tuesday's attack, were

designed to deter North Korea and were not aimed at China.

The United States is sending an aircraft carrier group led by the

nuclear-powered USS Washington for the maneuvers with South Korea.

" We've routinely operated in waters off the Korean peninsula for years, " said

Captain Darryn , a Pentagon spokesman. " These latest provocations have been

by the North and they need to take ownership of those, not us. "

U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said North

Korea's nuclear ambitions and leader Kim Jong-il's unpredictability increased

the threat of regional instability.

" It's hard to know why China doesn't push harder, " Mullen told CNN television's

Fareed Zakaria GPS in comments due to air on Sunday. " My sense is they try to

control this guy. And I'm not sure he is controllable. "

Calling for calm after the attack, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met

North Korean ambassador Ji Jae Ryong in Beijing and talked by phone with U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim

Sung-hwan.

" The top priority now is to keep the situation under control and to ensure such

events do not happen again, " the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Yoo Choonsik in Seoul and Phil in WASHINGTON)

(Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)