WASHINGTON - US PRESIDENT Barack Obama described North Korea as a pressing threat and pledged 'unshakeable' support for South Korea after the communist state rained a deadly artillery barrage on a border island.
Washington and Seoul agreed to 'coordinate' any response to North Korea after Tuesday's attack, which killed two South Korean marines and sent panicked civilians fleeing the flashpoint Yellow Sea island of Yeonpyeong.
In an interview with ABCNews, Mr Obama would not speculate on military actions that the United States may take in response to the artillery deluge, which has incited global condemnation and depressed financial markets around the world.
But the 'outraged' president was quoted as saying: 'We want to make sure all the parties in the region recognise that this is a serious and ongoing threat that has to be dealt with.'
South Korea, after decrying an 'inhumane atrocity' against defenceless civilians, said on Wednesday that it was suspending promised flood aid to North Korea, and has already called off talks on reuniting families split by war.
Mr Obama was briefed by top security and military aides on the nuclear-armed Stalinist state's assault on the island, one of the worst border incidents since the 1950-1953 Korean war. 'The president reiterated the unshakeable support of the United States for our ally, the Republic of Korea, and discussed ways to advance peace and security on the Korean peninsula going forward,' a White House statement said. -- AFP
China media takes pro-N.Korea tone
BEIJING - CHINESE state media coverage of the Korean peninsula shelling incident avoided criticising Beijing's close ally Pyongyang on Wednesday and even said the episode showed North Korea's 'toughness'.
North Korea fired a deadly barrage of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday in one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-1953 war, sparking global condemnation of Pyongyang.
China's official response has so far been relatively tepid, however, while state media have largely avoided pointing the finger at North Korea and taken an occasionally pro-Pyongyang tone.
'North Korea showed its toughness during the skirmish,' the Global Times said in an editorial that also criticised the 'failure of the hard-line policies' of the current South Korean government toward its northern neighbour.
Chinese news accounts of the shelling, which provoked retaliatory South Korean fire, refrained from assigning blame but highlighted North Korean claims that South Korea triggered the exchange.
Coverage of the incident on China Central Television, the Communist-led government's main broadcast mouthpiece, included prominent play for a North Korean news broadcast railing at South Korea for starting the incident and threatening retaliation. -- AFP
US lawmakers slam China
WASHINGTON - US LAWMAKERS issued hawkish calls on China to do more to restrain 'reckless' North Korea on Tuesday, charging the sudden peninsular crisis showed that decades of 'appeasing' Pyongyang had failed.
After the nuclear-armed state's deadly artillery barrage on a South Korean island, Republicans demanded more pressure on Beijing from the White House, which has already had limited results in pressing China on its currency.
'Two decades worth of attempts to appease this North Korean regime have failed, and further attempts to do so will meet with the same result,' said Senator John McCain, the defeated 2008 Republican presidential candidate.
'The Chinese government has perhaps the most influence on North Korea, and for the sake of regional security and stability, I urge China to play a more direct and responsible role in changing North Korea's reckless behavior.'
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the incoming Republican chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committee, blasted Mr Obama for being 'too weak' on North Korea, and also had harsh words for Beijing.
'China, which wields significant influence over North Korea, must stop enabling the regime and join responsible nations in sending an unequivocal message to Pyongyang: abandon your aggressive agenda now,' she said. -- AFP
It's either a direct quotation, or that the news/content/headline we receive just influencing whose sides we are taking. Few are the reports saying the following:
*The North said the inter-Korean relationship 'is under threat of collapsing and the doors to dialogue that were opened with difficulty through our goodwill and generosity have been closed again.
*'As the South's Red Cross has declared the indefinite postponement of talks, we no longer seek to resolve humanitarian issues,' it said.
*After a year-long hiatus the two sides late last month held a temporary reunion programme for families separated since the 1950-53 war.
*The South was pressing to make the reunions a regular event, while the North demanded massive food and fertiliser aid in return.
*The North said the South provoked the shelling by firing into the North's waters, a claim it repeated on Wednesday through the official news agency.
*The North, in a statement attributed to its Red Cross, said the 'positive atmosphere' it had created for improved relations 'is now once again in danger due to the South's evil and ignorant war provocation'.
*It said the South's forces during an exercise on Tuesday had fired dozens of shots into the North's territorial waters, ignoring repeated warnings. 'We took a bold and immediate military reaction with a strong physical blow to the enemy's military provocation.' -- AFP
WASHINGTON - US PRESIDENT Barack Obama described North Korea as a pressing threat and pledged 'unshakeable' support for South Korea after the communist state rained a deadly artillery barrage on a border island.
Washington and Seoul agreed to 'coordinate' any response to North Korea after Tuesday's attack, which killed two South Korean marines and sent panicked civilians fleeing the flashpoint Yellow Sea island of Yeonpyeong.
In an interview with ABCNews, Mr Obama would not speculate on military actions that the United States may take in response to the artillery deluge, which has incited global condemnation and depressed financial markets around the world.
But the 'outraged' president was quoted as saying: 'We want to make sure all the parties in the region recognise that this is a serious and ongoing threat that has to be dealt with.'
South Korea, after decrying an 'inhumane atrocity' against defenceless civilians, said on Wednesday that it was suspending promised flood aid to North Korea, and has already called off talks on reuniting families split by war.
Mr Obama was briefed by top security and military aides on the nuclear-armed Stalinist state's assault on the island, one of the worst border incidents since the 1950-1953 Korean war. 'The president reiterated the unshakeable support of the United States for our ally, the Republic of Korea, and discussed ways to advance peace and security on the Korean peninsula going forward,' a White House statement said. -- AFP
China media takes pro-N.Korea tone
BEIJING - CHINESE state media coverage of the Korean peninsula shelling incident avoided criticising Beijing's close ally Pyongyang on Wednesday and even said the episode showed North Korea's 'toughness'.
North Korea fired a deadly barrage of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday in one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-1953 war, sparking global condemnation of Pyongyang.
China's official response has so far been relatively tepid, however, while state media have largely avoided pointing the finger at North Korea and taken an occasionally pro-Pyongyang tone.
'North Korea showed its toughness during the skirmish,' the Global Times said in an editorial that also criticised the 'failure of the hard-line policies' of the current South Korean government toward its northern neighbour.
Chinese news accounts of the shelling, which provoked retaliatory South Korean fire, refrained from assigning blame but highlighted North Korean claims that South Korea triggered the exchange.
Coverage of the incident on China Central Television, the Communist-led government's main broadcast mouthpiece, included prominent play for a North Korean news broadcast railing at South Korea for starting the incident and threatening retaliation. -- AFP
US lawmakers slam China
WASHINGTON - US LAWMAKERS issued hawkish calls on China to do more to restrain 'reckless' North Korea on Tuesday, charging the sudden peninsular crisis showed that decades of 'appeasing' Pyongyang had failed.
After the nuclear-armed state's deadly artillery barrage on a South Korean island, Republicans demanded more pressure on Beijing from the White House, which has already had limited results in pressing China on its currency.
'Two decades worth of attempts to appease this North Korean regime have failed, and further attempts to do so will meet with the same result,' said Senator John McCain, the defeated 2008 Republican presidential candidate.
'The Chinese government has perhaps the most influence on North Korea, and for the sake of regional security and stability, I urge China to play a more direct and responsible role in changing North Korea's reckless behavior.'
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the incoming Republican chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committee, blasted Mr Obama for being 'too weak' on North Korea, and also had harsh words for Beijing.
'China, which wields significant influence over North Korea, must stop enabling the regime and join responsible nations in sending an unequivocal message to Pyongyang: abandon your aggressive agenda now,' she said. -- AFP
It's either a direct quotation, or that the news/content/headline we receive just influencing whose sides we are taking. Few are the reports saying the following:
*The North said the inter-Korean relationship 'is under threat of collapsing and the doors to dialogue that were opened with difficulty through our goodwill and generosity have been closed again.
*'As the South's Red Cross has declared the indefinite postponement of talks, we no longer seek to resolve humanitarian issues,' it said.
*After a year-long hiatus the two sides late last month held a temporary reunion programme for families separated since the 1950-53 war.
*The South was pressing to make the reunions a regular event, while the North demanded massive food and fertiliser aid in return.
*The North said the South provoked the shelling by firing into the North's waters, a claim it repeated on Wednesday through the official news agency.
*The North, in a statement attributed to its Red Cross, said the 'positive atmosphere' it had created for improved relations 'is now once again in danger due to the South's evil and ignorant war provocation'.
*It said the South's forces during an exercise on Tuesday had fired dozens of shots into the North's territorial waters, ignoring repeated warnings. 'We took a bold and immediate military reaction with a strong physical blow to the enemy's military provocation.' -- AFP