21-12-10 S Korea Braces for Possible Attack

A destroyer prowled the sea and fighter jets screamed across the skies Tuesday 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,including two construction workers,in the first attack targeting civilian areas since the 1950-53 Korean War.Top officials defended South Korea's decision to carry out the drills despite calls in some quarters for restraint,and said South Korea's military was prepared for any future North Korean provocation.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 to future provocations."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.North Korea showed no signs of pulling back its military.SA-2 ground-to-air missile and ground-to-ship missiles have been deployed in the west and are poised to fire artillery,South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported,citing an unidentified military official.South Korean fighter jets continued patrolling the skies and an Aegis-equipped destroyer was ready to counter any possible provocation,the Defense Ministry said."We have to show North Korea that we are committed to respond to any kind of North Korean provocation," a senior South Korean government official said Tuesday.