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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

S. Korean troops alert for N. Korean reaction

Richardson, in Pyongyang, hails restraint following drills

A platoon of South Korean marines patrols along the seashore on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, today.  (Associated Press)
Foster Klug And Ahn Young-Joon Associated Press

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – A destroyer prowled the sea and fighter jets screamed across the skies today as South Korea braced for possible North Korean surprise attacks a day after launching provocative artillery drills on an island the North shelled last month.

North Korea has so far backed off threats to strike the South again for the live-fire military drills on Yeonpyeong Island, a tiny enclave of fishing communities and military bases within sight of North Korean shores.

Similar drills last month triggered a North Korean artillery barrage that killed four South Koreans.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, in the wake of intense criticism over his handling of last month’s attack, gathered his national security leaders for strategic talks. Lee was slammed for responding too slowly and too weakly to the original attacks, and his government has since threatened airstrikes if hit again, ordered more troops on front-line islands and revamped rules of engagement to allow for a more forceful response.

“We will mobilize reconnaissance and surveillance assets of South Korea and the U.S. combined force and intensively monitor North Korea’s military activities,” Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told lawmakers before leaving for the security meeting.

Richardson visits North

Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson praised North Korea’s “statesmanlike” restraint as he wrapped up a four-day trip to North Korea.

Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who has served as an unofficial envoy to North Korea in the past, told Associated Press Television News in Pyongyang that his trip yielded “positive” results.

Richardson said the North agreed to let U.N. atomic inspectors visit its main nuclear complex to make sure North Korea is not producing enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, according to a statement from his office.

The United States, however, indicated skepticism that North Korea would do anything more than talk.

“North Korea talks a great game. They always do,” U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington. “The real issue is what will they do.”