By Jung Sung-ki

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young was under criticism Wednesday for South Korean forces’ passive response to the North’s unprecedented shelling of South Korean territory the previous day.

The North launched 170 artillery shells onto South Korean marine bases and civilian areas on Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, killing two marines and two civilians, and wounding 15 other soldiers. Three civilians were wounded.

The North used both direct-firing guns and howitzers. It first fired about 150 shells between 2:34 p.m. and 2:46 p.m. and launched 20 more shots between 3:12 p.m. and 3:29 p.m.

South Korean forces, however, fired back only 80 shells from K9 self-propelled howitzers 13 minutes after the North opened fire.

Lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties said the South should have retaliated with more shots and better firepower.

“Over a hundred shells from the North landed in separate places, so we couldn’t figure out initially how many were there,” an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters. “A commander on the spot had to make a decision on the level of response based on his combat experiences.”

At the time of the attacks, South Korean marines first evacuated to safe places and then regrouped to retaliate, he said. Some of the K9 howitzers were in other places for exercises, so it took some time for the weapons to be deployed.

K9 howitzers were not able to target North Korean artillery pieces directly and instead launched attacks on barracks and other facilities.

Rep. Kim Jang-soo of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) raised the question of why the fleet of F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets didn’t respond to the second attack by the North.

“North Korea’s second shelling of the island was a clear act of war,” said the first-term lawmaker, a former minister of defense. “Then F-15Ks should have conducted surgical strikes against artillery pieces and their caves.”

The defense minister said he was worried that such an air strike would escalate the low-intensity conflict to a full-scale war.

The F-15K carries precision-strike weapons, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and SLAM-ER missiles. The KF-16 fighters are being equipped with the JDAM.

“Current rules of engagement call for responding to any provocation with firepower more than twice as strong as the enemy attack,” Minister Kim said. “We’ll consider further strengthening the rules of engagement.”