Updated on
Summary
Two days after North Korea unleashed a deadly artillery barrage against a South Korean island, the Souths defense minister resigned on Thursday amid concerns that the response to the attack was too feeble and passive. The South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, said he accepted the resignation of the defense minister, Kim Tae-young, to improve the atmosphere in the military and to handle the series of incidents. The ministers departure came hours after South Korea said it would bolster its island defenses and make its rules of engagement more muscular. Seoul also said it would press China to use its considerable diplomatic leverage with the North to avoid an escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula. North and South Korea exchanged barrages of artillery fire on Tuesday afternoon. The battle killed two marines and two civilians on the small South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which sits about nine miles off the North Korean coast.
