By Lee Tae-hoon
Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin Wednesday instructed his troops to annihilate North Korean forces without any hesitation in revenge for their two deadly attacks in 2010 if the communist regime goes ahead with another provocation.
The remarks came amid a flurry of militaristic rhetoric and threats from North Korean leaders who have begun to use defamatory words to describe Kim and President Lee Myung-bak.
“If North Korean troops attack, punish the enemy until they completely surrender as payback to their torpedoing of our warship Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island,” Kim said during his inspection of military units on the border island of Yeonpyeong.
“Immediately retaliate against not only the provokers, but also their supporting units until they completely admit to defeat in line with my instruction to act first and report later.”
The North made surprise attacks against the Navy’s frigate Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island near the maritime border in the West Sea in March and November in 2010, respectively, killing 50 South Koreans.
Kim inspected the operation of artillery hunting radars, K-9 self-propelled 155mm howitzers, the observatory tower of the 6th Marine Company and the command-and-control center of Martine units on Yeonpyeong Island.
Yeonpyeong Island lies only 1.5 kilometers away from the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, and three kilometers from the North’s Seok Island.
The top military leader’s visit to the border island came only 10 days after North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un inspected an artillery unit responsible for the shelling of Yeonpyeong on Nov. 23, 2010.
“Kim Jong-un recently frequented the border village of Panmunjeom and military units and increased the number of artillery drills and threatening remarks against the South. This shows that the North’s hereditary power succession (to Kim) is not secure,” Defense Minister Kim said.
He said the North will most likely carefully plot and launch another military attack against the South in the near future in an attempt to stabilize domestic politics and divert the attention of its hunger-stricken people.
It was the first time for the defense chief to use such strong terms as “revenge” and “surrender” to stress his resolve to defend the country against possible provocations from the North.
Earlier, he said there have been signs of the North preparing for an attack against the South around the centennial of the regime founder Kim Il-sung’s birthday on April 15.
Some speculate that the North may make military provocations during the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit slated for March 26-27 to thwart international efforts to make a nuclear-free world.
North Korea recently ratcheted up its rhetoric and threats against the Lee administration as the nation readies for the nuclear summit and the April 11 National Assembly elections to pick 300 lawmakers.
“Be it Cheong Wa Dae or Incheon, we will immerse them all in a sea of fire and not let a single member of the group of traitors survive," Pyon In-son, the new head of the 4th Army Corps of the Korean People's Army, said.