South Korean defense minister quits after North attacks

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's disgraced defense minister resigned Thursday amid growing criticism in the wake of a deadly North Korean artillery barrage, setting the stage for sweeping changes in the South Korean military establishment.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young's resignation came as lawmakers blasted the government of President Lee Myung-bak for its slow response to North Korea's attack that killed four people and injured 20 others on an island outpost this week. Lee accepted the resignation of Kim only hours after promising to send more troops to the disputed maritime border between North and South.

The drama within Lee's Cabinet ended a tense day that saw North Korea warn of a possible reprise of its attack and China voice concern over joint U.S.-South Korean naval exercises scheduled to begin Sunday.

If provoked further, North Korea "will deal without hesitation the second and third strong physical retaliatory blow," according to a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

The joint drills, which will involve a flotilla of U.S. ships including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington, with 5,700 personnel and about 85 fighter planes, will "send a clear message to the North," a South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei questioned the timing of the exercises, saying officials "have noted the relevant reports and express our concern."

A day earlier, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao had called on all sides to exert "maximum restraint" but didn't mention North Korea by name or set blame for the attack.

As the United States and South Korea pressured China to help curb North Korea, Russian officials Thursday also sought calm, saying they hoped the U.N. Security Council soon would weigh in on the artillery attack.

"I hope that in the coming days the council will express its opinion and that this will help to calm the situation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow.

Although South Korean lawmakers overwhelmingly supported a resolution to condemn North Korea's attack, the 261-1 vote stopped short of demanding retaliation.

The North's surprise shelling barrage occurred on tiny Yeonpyeong Island, a commercial-fishing and military outpost about 9 miles off the coast. The island's sovereignty long has been in dispute between the North and South.

Few in South Korea were surprised at Kim's departure, which came eight months after a North Korean torpedo attack sank a South Korean ship, killing 46 sailors. Although implicated in the sinking, North Korea has denied involvement.

At the time, Kim offered to resign but was allowed to keep his post. The Lee administration accepted his resignation this time, however.

Officials said the military also planned "across-the-board" revisions to its policy involving the use of force and would scrap a 2006 plan to scale down the armed forces' presence in the region.

"Our existing rules of engagement have been assessed as rather passive, focusing on preventing the escalation of a conflict," presidential spokesman Hong Sang-pyo said.

Lawmakers bashed the military's slow response to this week's attack. After North Korea fired 170 shells at the island, South Korean forces waited 10 minutes before firing 80 shells at northern artillery positions.

A commentary in the conservative South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo assailed Kim, saying the military had been outgunned and underprepared.

"The minister practically admitted that the military failed to respond to a new type of North Korean threat" in the Yellow Sea, the newspaper said, charging that "the military has been implementing reforms that weaken defense capabilities" on the islands.

Lee on Thursday instead tried to focus on the North Korean threat.

"We should not release our sense of crisis in preparation for the possibility of another provocation by North Korea. A provocation like this can recur any time," he told an emergency Cabinet meeting.

In other retaliatory measures against the North, South Korea slashed aid and canceled family reunions that had resumed after a several-year lapse. North Korea had received 5,000 tons of rice, 3 million packs of instant noodles and 3,000 tons of cement in aid from South Korea the past three months.

North Korea on Thursday continued to blame the United States and South Korea for the artillery bombardment, insisting South Korea fired first and that it shelled the island in defense.

North Korea said the United States bore responsibility for recent hostilities after its refusal to sign a pact officially ending the Korean War, which has been sought by North Korea. "The U.S., therefore, cannot evade the blame for the recent shelling," the North Korean statement read.

South Korean media reported Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, visited the country's artillery base only hours before the start of Tuesday's shelling, disputing theories by some analysts that the decision to attack was made by a rogue military commander.

Later in the day, South Korean officials repeated that the North Korean leader had called for the attack. "This provocation was carefully coordinated and planned by Kim Jong Il," a senior government official said. "Any single gunshot by North Korea will be commanded by the Dear Leader and his third son."

Analysts predicted that the four-day joint naval exercises would escalate tensions further.

"There is a possibility of a second North Korean attack, perhaps even as soon as the start of the naval exercises on Sunday," said Cheong Seong-chang, an expert on North Korean politics at Seoul's Sejong Institute.

Information from The New York Times is included in this report.