Shell Shocked

The White House is strongly condemning North Korea’s artillery attack today on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. In a statement released early this morning, the administration urged North Korea to “halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the Armistice Agreement.” The United States is “firmly committed to the defense of our ally, the Republic of Korea, and to the maintenance of regional peace and stability,” the White House said.

U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Walter Sharp underscored the risk posed by North Korean artillery during a Sept. 16 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing concerning security on the Korean Peninsula. “Sir, they clearly have well over 200 long-range systems that could strike the heart of Seoul today without moving either their weapons or their ammunition. And with a city of 28 million, that's within that range,” Sharp said. If North Korea were to shell Seoul, the attack would be devastating, he said.

“We work very hard, as you know, in our war plans to be prepared to quickly take that artillery out both by counter-fire artillery and by joint fires by our naval and our Air Forces both on the Republic of Korea and the U.S. side,” Sharp said. “We work that very hard throughout the year in many, many different exercises. But I've got to be realistic. We're not going to be able to stop all that artillery, and there will be a lot of destruction if they choose to do that.”