South Korea’s New Defense Chief Threatens Air Strikes on North

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South Korea's New Defense Chief Threatens Air Strikes on North

December 03, 2010, 1:46 AM EST

By Bomi Lim and Saeromi Shin

Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's new defense minister vowed retaliation that

would include airstrikes if North Korea makes another attack following last

month's deadly artillery bombardment.

" I will mobilize all combat capabilities available to severely punish the

enemy, " Kim Kwan Jin, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today

at a confirmation hearing. " I will surely use planes. This is a matter of

self-defense. "

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak on Nov. 29 apologized for what he called

the military's weak response to North Korea's Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong

island, which killed two soldiers and two civilians. South Korea's military is

preparing to carry out the first live-fire artillery drills since the shelling

along its disputed western sea border with North Korea.

North Korea attacked the fishing community and military outpost of Yeonpyeong in

the first shelling of South Korean soil since the 1950-1953 war. North Korea

said it was responding to a military provocation after the South fired into

waters it claims as its own.

" The latest tough talk seemed to be mostly aimed at deterring North Korea from

further provocations, " said Kim Yong Hyun, a professor of North Korean studies

at Dongguk University in Seoul. " There is only so much South Korea can do in

terms of tough actions when there's little assurance of how far North Korea will

go. "

Defense chief-nominee Kim said today it isn't likely that North Korea would

start a full-scale war, given its weak economy and uncertainties about leader

Kim Jong Il's planned transfer of power to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un. Kim

was named on Nov. 26 to replace Defense Minister Kim Tae Young, who quit amid

criticism that the military's response to the shelling was inadequate.

Shipping Warning

South Korea warned ships to avoid 29 areas around its coast starting Dec. 6 as

more than 40,000 Japanese and U.S. troops began joint exercises today. One zone

lies about 7 miles (11 kilometers) off Daecheong island, in waters claimed by

the North that are about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the South Korean

mainland.

South Korea hasn't decided when it will next hold artillery exercises on

Yeonpyeong, said a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff who declined to be

identified, citing military policy. The National Intelligence Service believes

North Korea may launch another attack on the South, Grand National Party

lawmaker Rhee Beum Kwan said, citing testimony to parliament this week by the

spy-agency's director, Won Sei-Hoon.

Kim said today he will consider whether to reinstate North Korea as the

country's " main enemy " in the military guidelines, a term dropped in 2004 under

the so-called " Sunshine Policy " of engagement with North Korea.

`Main Enemy'

" There is no doubt North Korea's leadership and military are our main enemy, "

Kim said. " The enemy will attempt more provocations. I will make sure the enemy

doesn't even dare to think about it. "

North Korea has more than 5,200 multiple rocket launchers, 100 more than

previously estimated, bolstering its capability to attack South Korea's capital,

Yonhap News reported today, citing a South Korean government official it didn't

identify. North Korea has also increased the number of tanks and boosted its

capability to intercept planes, Yonhap said.

Fresh from maneuvers in the Yellow Sea with South Korea's navy, the aircraft

carrier USS Washington will join a force of about 400 aircraft and 60

warships in the Japanese-U.S. exercises today. Drills will include responding to

ballistic missile attacks on unspecified Pacific islands, the Joint Staff of the

Japan Self-Defense Forces said in a statement.

China Critical

While the exercises were planned more than a year ago, they are the latest show

of deterrence following North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong. China criticized

the drills as an obstacle to easing tensions on the peninsula that have been

ratcheting higher since the March sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

An international panel blamed the incident on a North Korean torpedo, which Kim

Jong Il's regime has denied.

South Korea's drills starting Dec. 6 will include live firing from navy ships

into the sea near Daecheong island, said the spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of

Staff. The area lies to the southwest of the island, in the opposite direction

to the North Korean coastline, he said.

The army and air force will be involved in drills in some of the areas around

South Korea where regular live-fire practice is planned, said the spokesman.

The drills come after a survey showed more than 80 percent of South Koreans

believed their government should have displayed a " stronger military response "

to the attack on Yeonpyeong. The Nov. 27 poll by the Seoul-based Asan Institute

for Policy Studies surveyed 1,000 people aged 19 or older by telephone and had a

margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

`Step Up'

" I am responsible for not having been able to protect the lives and property of

the people, " Lee said in a national address on Nov. 29. " I understand very well

that you were greatly disappointed with how we responded to the shelling. "

Japan and the U.S. have joined South Korea in condemning the North Korean

attack, rejecting China's call for talks with the North and calling on the

government in Beijing to do more to rein in its ally.

China has " much influence and therefore much responsibility, " Admiral

Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a forum of the Center for

American Progress in Washington Dec. 1. " We need China to step up. "

Chinese opposition has stalled United Nations Security Council negotiations

condemning the shelling and North Korea's expanding nuclear program. Secretary

of State Hillary Clinton will host Japan's Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung Hwan on Dec. 6 to discuss regional

security.

Closer Ties

North Korea last week confirmed it has a uranium-enrichment facility with

thousands of centrifuges, which it said was intended for civilian use. The

country is under UN sanctions because of previous atomic tests and concerns it

is developing nuclear weapons.

China's ties with North Korea " have witnessed significant progress this year, "

Wu Bangguo, a member of the nine-member standing committee of China's Politburo,

said in Beijing, according to a statement posted on the website of the Communist

Party yesterday. Wu pledged to strengthen those links in his third meeting this

year with Choe Tae Bok, a key aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Choe's talks in Beijing touched on areas of mutual concern and took place in a

friendly atmosphere, state-run Korea Central News Agency reported yesterday,

without providing details.

Emergency Talks

The week-long exercise has no link to any " existing or perceived political or

geographical situation nor is it directed at any nation, " U.S. Lt. Colonel

Hoffman, an Air Force spokesman, said in an e-mailed message.

China on Nov. 28 proposed " emergency consultations " with negotiators from the

two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the U.S. to defuse tensions. Negotiations among

the six countries aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear program

have been stalled since April 2009.

" shing of force cannot solve the issue, " Chinese Foreign Ministry

spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular briefing yesterday. " Some are playing

with knives and guns while China is criticized for calling for dialogue, is that

fair? "

--With assistance from Jungmin Hong in Seoul, Viola Gienger in Washington, Bill

Varner in New York. Editors: Brett , Ben