United States And South Korea Will Start Joint Naval Military Maneuvers On Sunday
Only a few hours after North Korean bombing shells fell in the Yeonpyeong Island, a territory belonging to South Korea, President Barack Obama strongly condemned the attack and said that, with such reckless actions, North Korea poses a serious threat to the security of the region. The US leader once more reassured that his country will always be an ally of the South Koreans, described as the base for security in the Pacific region. Neverthelss, Obama avoided to make any speculation about any possible US military retaliation.
The American president also asked for China support in resolving the problems between the two Koreas. He urged China, North Korea’s main ally, to tell Pyongyang that there are international rules to be observed. For the moment, China is seen as the only power that has some influence on the communist regime in Pyongyang. But the Obama administration also fears the hasty reaction of South Korea and Japan, the two countries threatened by the North Korean arsenal. On Tuesday, the Japanese government held an emergency meeting in Tokyo and the prime-minister urged the rest of the cabinet to prepare for any possibility.
President Barack Obama had a telephone conversation with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Myung-bak, and agreed to conduct military maneuvers and exercises in the Yellow Sea in the following days, an exercise at which the US carrier George Washingon would take part. The exercise, which is expected to begin this Sunday and last for four days, was schedulded before yesterdayʼs bombing and it will not be rescheduled. The joint military maneuvers will send a strong signal to North Korea, showing the strength of the alliance between the US and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the number of people killed by the bombing rose to four, after the dead bodies of two civilians were found on Wednesday by the South Korean officials. The two bodies were discovered by members of the Coast Gurad, who were verifying through the rubble of the houses destroyed by the shells launched on the island. The two men, aged 60, had been reported missing and they were a part of a group of 12 workers building houses for the soldiers stationed on the Yeonpyeong Island. At least one of the civilians is reported to have been killed by fragments of shells.11
