Retaliate if provoked

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin inspected the readiness posture of a South Korean Marine unit on the country’s frontline Yeonpyeong Island Thursday. He ordered troops there to launch a powerful retaliation against North Korea if provoked again “until the enemy completely surrenders.” In a phone conversation the same day with The Dong-A Ilbo, he called his comments “a warning message” to Pyongyang, proclaiming that the South Korean military was anticipating the North’s provocation and firmly capable of responding to it.

March 26 will mark the second anniversary of the North’s sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan. Seoul on the same day will host the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. Considering that the North provoked a naval clash when the South was co-hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup soccer finals, there is no guarantee that the communist state will not be tempted to provoke again. The defense minister’s instruction was not only strong in rhetoric but also had great timing. South Korean field commanders and troops should leave no stone unturned in their alert posture in compliance with their defense chief’s command.

North Korea, which has escalated its provocative rhetoric, is showing unusual moves. Soon after he visited an army unit responsible for the 2010 artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island late last month, the North’s leader Kim Jong Un visited the truce village of Panmunjom Sunday, ordering military personnel stationed there to “maintain maximum alertness” while talking about the possibility of war. In Pyongyang, a large-scale mass rally in which 150,000 soldiers and civilians participated helped escalate the hostile atmosphere. Accusing a South Korean military unit for putting up posters with hostile and defamatory words on the portraits of the North`s late and incumbent leaders, senior officials of North Korean Workers` Party, government and military used extremely aggressive and threatening words against South Korea, calling South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Defense Minister Kim “mad dogs” and threatening to “tear them to death.” North Korean media also carried reports citing provocative comments made by senior military officials on turning the South Korean presidential office into “a sea of fire” and to “mercilessly sweep the traitors.”

Though the North seems to be instigating antipathy against the South in an attempt to solidify Kim Jong Un`s grip on power, Seoul should also be prepared for the possibility of a provocation. Pyongyang has recently strengthened artillery firing drills on frontline areas on the west coast. It launched an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island three months after conducting firing exercises near the maritime border between the two Koreas.

Last year, the South Korean military established the Northwest Islands Defense Command and significantly upgraded its firepower to better defend frontline islands. To protect peace, no punches should be pulled in the event of a North Korean provocation or war. To get the North out of its provocative habit, the South should not repeat the soft stance it took after the attacks on the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong. The South Korean government and the military should retaliate if provoked again with the resolve to devastate the source of provocation and surrounding areas.