Republic Of Korea: President Lee Says South Korea Must Protect Itself From North Korean Attack

From ROK Drop and Joong And Ilbo:

8:59 PM (2 hours ago)President Lee Says South Korea Must Protect Itself from North Korean Attackfrom ROK Drop by GI Korea






The Joong Ang Ilbo has an article about the recent military drills that has got the international media all worked up:




 



The Army and Air Force conducted one of its largest-ever joint firing drills on land yesterday in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, in the latest in a series of military exercises in response to the recent shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. The drill included F-15K Air Force fighter jets firing at targets on the ground and in the air, simulating the defense against a North Korean attack.



With 105 types of weaponry in use in the 800-man drill, the exercise came to a close at 3:30 p.m. with no apparent response from the North.



The Chinese are all worked up to and get this, applaud the North Koreans for showing restraint:



The exercise was criticized by the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper owned by the People’s Daily, the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, which said yesterday that the extensive drills being carried out on land, sea and air in South Korea were tempting North Korea to retaliate.



The paper went on to praise North Korea for “showing restraint,” and stated that the Korean Peninsula was in peril after South Korea’s decision to carry out more exercises.



It’s funny that when the North Koreans hold military exercises, sink South Korean ships, shell a South Korean island, or kill South Korean civilians the peninsula is not in peril, yet when South Korea holds a major military exercise it is in peril.



However, here is the most important part of the article, that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak gets it that the ROK cannot depend on the US or anyone else to protect their country, they must protect themselves:



“We do not attack first, but we should respond strongly to keep the peace when attacked,” Lee told soldiers. “Who will protect our country at this time? We must do it ourselves.



“When we are one, North Korea’s will to provoke is weakened. We can block the North’s provocations by responding firmly and uniting.”



This is very bad news for the North Koreans because Lee Myung-bak appears to be determined not to give in to their usual thuggery and extortion and are prepared to give the North Koreans a black eye if they try it again.