YEONPYEONG ISLAND // South Korea has vowed to boost military forces on frontline islands with North Korea, which warned of more possible strikes after its artillery attack sent tensions soaring.
Two days after the bombardment, workers were clearing the rubble on the Yellow Sea island of Yeonpyeong, where 80 shells rained down on Tuesday, killing four people in the first such attack since the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korea's military, after media criticism of an allegedly weak response, plans to change its "rather passive" rules of engagement, said senior public affairs secretary Hong Sang-Pyo.
It will also "sharply increase military forces, including ground troops, on the five islands in the Yellow Sea and allocate more of its budget toward dealing with North Korea's asymmetrical threats", he said.
The explosions that shattered the calm of the remote islet killed two marines and two civilians, wounded 18 other people, left 22 buildings in charred ruins and sent hundreds of terrified residents fleeing to the mainland.
Newspapers have called for revenge against the "mad dog" regime, protesters have burnt North Korea's flag, and some politicians have berated President Lee Myung-Bak for not responding forcefully enough when the South returned fire.
North Korea on Thursday blamed the South and the United States for provoking its artillery bombardment and warned it was ready to strike again in case of further provocation.
The reclusive communist state has also rejected a proposal by the US-led United Nations Command, which supervises the armistice, to hold military talks on the attack, Yonhap reported, citing a South Korean defence official.
Pyongyang charged in a statement that "the US can never evade responsibility for the recent exchange of fire", blaming it for overseeing the drawing up of the post-war maritime border which the North considers illegal.
"If the war-mongering South Korean puppets fail to return to their senses and commit another reckless military provocation, our army will carry out second and third rounds of powerful physical retaliatory strikes without hesitation."
The US and South Korean navies plan to hold a four-day naval exercise in the Yellow Sea from Sunday that will involve a strike group headed by aircraft carrier the USS George Washington.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with ally South Korea, where 28,500 American troops are stationed. They face off across a Cold War era frontier against the regime run by "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il.
The world has often been baffled by the regime, which has staged two nuclear tests, fired missiles over Japan and this month showed off to a US academic a modern new nuclear facility.
Many observers believe Tuesday's attack was meant to highlight the military credentials of the leader-in-waiting -- Kim's little-known 27-year-old son Kim Jong-Un, who two months ago took powerful military and political posts.
The opaque nature of the regime, and its history of brinkmanship, has left world powers at a loss at how to deal with Pyongyang -- a problem vastly compounded by divisions within the international community.
While the US, European powers, South Korea and Japan have long pushed hard to sanction the regime, China and Russia have favoured a softer line with Pyongyang, a Cold War era ally and neighbour to both.
When an inter-governmental expert panel found that a North Korean submarine in March torpedoed and sank a South Korean corvette the Cheonan, killing 46 sailors, China refused to blame the Pyongyang regime.
Its foreign minister Yang Jiechi postponed a planned trip to South Korea due to start on Friday because of what Seoul called a scheduling problem.
Premier Wen Jiabao said in Moscow that "China is firmly committed to maintaining the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and opposes any provocative military acts".
It was not clear whether Wen was referring to the North Korean shelling or to the planned US-South Korean military exercises. Beijing has bitterly opposed similar war games in the Yellow Sea in the past.
"In the wake of the Cheonan sinking, Beijing showed us that they are more than willing to put up with Pyongyang's worst behaviour," said North Korea expert Peter Beck, with the US think tank the Council on Foreign Relations.
"Given that this incident brings us closer to the brink of war than the Cheonan, Beijing might conclude that enough is enough and quietly put their foot down, but I am not holding my breath."
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Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia