For the second straight day, North Korea fired artillery shells which fell just north of the Northern Limit Line’s (NLL) maritime border – near the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.
After declaring a no-sail zone in the area earlier this week, the North fired at least 30 rounds yesterday morning as part of an “annual training drill,” which the South responded to with 100 warning shots of their own.
“We have confirmed North Korea’s firing of several artillery shells, but they did not cross (the maritime border)” said Joint Chief of Staff Park Sung-woo yesterday, according to Yonhap. “We are on high military alert.”
The U.S. Defense Department has deemed North Korea’s actions “provocative” while also asking their South Korean allies to exercise restraint.
“The declaration by North Korea of a no sail zone and the live firing of artillery are provocative actions and as such are not helpful,” said State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley.
“Although this is a bilateral issue between the North and South, we clearly are discouraging any further acts of aggression which would in any way increase the tensions along this historically disputed boundary area,” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell during a news conference.
Like a petulant child, dealing with North Korea has been frustrating the international community for years as the communist country occasionally shows signs of hope only to baffle optimists and sympathizers with temper tantrums and actions like the one we witnessed today.
“It’s always difficult to interpret the intentions behind North Korean’s actions,” Morrel said. “We, however, have made it very clear that there is a path open to the North Koreans in the framework of the six-party talks to achieve the security and international respect that… at least they say they seek.”
In college, my economics professor told me that the picture at the top of the page was alone worth the price of the book, and I quite agree. Nuclear capability and an army over one million strong is great and all, but if I was a North Korean, I’d gladly trade that all for a chance to rejoin the world in the 21st Century. Hopefully one day they’ll have that choice.
Check out this CNN Video for a visual report on the recent peninsular developments.