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And South Korea's newly appointed defense minister also has tough words for North Korea. He says swift military action will be taken against the communist state if it attacks his country again.
On Friday, South Korea's newly appointed defense minister pledged to retaliate against any further attacks from North Korea.
[Kim Kwan-jin, Defense Minister, South Korea]:
"I will make thorough retribution if North Korea attacks our territory and people again so that it will never be able to provoke again. If the North makes further attacks we will fire back via aircraft for sure.”
Last week North Korea fired a barrage of artillery rounds at South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island in the first such attack on civilians on South Korean soil since the Korean War. Two civilians and two soldiers were killed in the attack.
Kim says it is not likely the North could afford a full-scale war with the South.
[Kim Kwan-jin, Defense Minister, South Korea]:
“In North Korea, there are many unstable domestic factors such as the national economic situation and the political succession matter.”
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak appointed Kim Kwan-jin as his new defense minister last week. Kim is a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Former defense minister Kim Tae-young quit following criticism of a slow response to North Korea’s artillery attack.