Attack pushing Koreas to brink

WASHINGTON – As South Korea threatened retaliation for North Korea’s deadly shelling of a South Korean island, U.S. officials Tuesday scrambled to avert any catastrophic escalation of hostilities following one of the most serious confrontations on the Korean Peninsula in decades.

The shelling – which killed two soldiers and injured 19 people, including three civilians – sent refugees fleeing the west coast island of Yeonpyeong as the South Korean government ordered its air force on high alert and declared that the secretive North Korean regime would face “stern retaliation” if it launched further attacks.

Condemnation of North Korea came swiftly from overseas capitals. President Barack Obama was “outraged,” an aide said, saying Pyongyang was “an ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with.” The White House called on Pyongyang to end “its belligerent action.”

The Obama administration sought to build diplomatic pressure on the North by enlisting the aid of China, which provides vital energy assistance and other aid to the impoverished regime. U.S. officials and allies began trying to round up support for a United Nations Security Council statement that would swiftly condemn Pyongyang’s action, diplomats said.

Such a statement would mark an important shift for China, which strongly resisted international efforts to penalize North Korea after it sank a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, last March. Diplomats said it was not immediately clear whether China would be willing to condemn its neighbor, despite growing international pressure to do so.

The South Korean military was conducting drills near the island, which is close to the North-South border, when the North opened fire about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Pyongyang had sent messages to Seoul that it considered the exercises “preparation for an invasion.”

The killings of soldiers and the attack on civilians put South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in the difficult position of having to respond strongly while avoiding dangerous escalation, analysts said.

Senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, met at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the incident.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was visiting Belarus, warned on Russian television of “a colossal danger that the accident may deteriorate into combat actions.” He called on Koreans to show restraint.

U.S. officials said they are consulting with their allies, especially South Korea, to jointly decide their next steps.

A U.S. defense official said Tuesday he saw no signs of movement of North or South Korean troops or equipment into the region.

But another U.S. official said the Pentagon may decide there is a need to move into the region to demonstrate its commitment to defend South Korea.

The North Korean attack followed the disclosure over the weekend that North Korea is building a uranium enrichment plant at its nuclear site in Yongbyon, suggesting that it is seeking a second method of building nuclear weapons.

That disclosure, followed by the North Korean attack, stirred wide speculation that North Korea is seeking to pressure the U.S. to agree to further diplomatic concessions and aid.

There was also talk by observers that the regime wanted to make a show of force to help establish military and popular support for the presumed new ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, the youngest son of President Kim Jong Il.

Several officials said Tuesday they found the events alarming because of the North’s apparent willingness to risk military confrontation and its interest in expanding its nuclear program.

At the same time, officials did not indicate any greater willingness to bend to North Korean pressure to return to the negotiating table.

Michael Green, a former top Asia adviser to President George W. Bush who is now with Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the North Koreans “are really pushing hard to create a crisis.”

He said U.S. strategists have long tried to imagine how military encounters could lead to war in Korea, and they have regularly considered the possibility that the North might begin shelling the island.

“This was a step that we thought was not too far from total war,” he said.