South seeks revenge for Yeonpyeong shelling

Two Koreas build up military postures around island

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of North Korea’s deadly bombardment on South Korea’s border island of Yeonpyeong, which killed two Marines and two civilians. It was the North’s first artillery attack on a civilian-populated area in the South since the 1950-53 Korean War. ― ED.

YEONPYEONG ISLAND ― A year after North Korea’s surprise shelling barrage on Nov. 23, scars still run deep across this tiny fishing island. Soldiers who witnessed the tragic event seldom talk about it as this brings back disturbing memories, but they are busy preparing for a day to pay back the suffering that people on Yeonpyeong Island had to endure.

One particularly noticeable change is a military buildup and readiness on the border island, which is only 3 kilometers away from the North’s Seok Island, and 12 kilometers from its western coastal artillery base.

Yeonpyeong is so close to the North’s military base that the average healthy young man could swim to the island to defect. In fact, a bold North Korean soldier came to the island and returned home by makeshift boat made of Styrofoam after protesting of the South Korean Coast Guard taking pictures of him fishing near the maritime border.

Military beef-up on Yeonpyeong

According to multiple sources, more than 1,300 Marines are now stationed on Yeonpyeong in the West Sea and roughly half of its 1,400 civilian population are family members of military personnel.

The number of howitzers that can strike an enemy within 40 kilometers has tripled, K-10 automatic ammunition re-supply vehicles now roam military bases and AH-1S Cobra helicopters have been deployed to thwart North Korea’s possible maritime infiltration.

Moreover, domestic 130-millimeter, 36-round, truck-mounted "Kuryong" multiple rocket launchers, HALO (hostile artillery location) systems and a video surveillance system capable of detecting objects 25 kilometers away day or night have been installed.

Other combat proven weapons, such as Israeli-made, precision-guided Spike missiles, and high-tech surveillance apparatus to monitor the movement of enemies, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle and the Forward Observer (FO), are also scheduled to be deployed next year.

Construction is underway in many corners of the 7.01 square kilometer island, ranging from a giant fallout shelter capable of housing 500 people and dozens of military and civilian buildings, including a hospital, that were wrecked in the aftermath of the attack.

A senior intelligence official of the Marines, however, warns Seoul not to be overconfident with its sudden boost in military presence as there have been signs of the North also beefing up in the sea border area.

The North has reportedly completed the construction of a military unit capable of enabling its 4,000 Special Forces to infiltrate the South with the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), a high-speed, over-the-beach amphibious landing craft.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Capt. Kim Jeong-soo, who led Yeonpyeong Island’s only military unit capable of responding to the attack last year, cannot stop feeling anxious whenever he opens a door since he saw his troops facing a life and death situation.

“I have developed a habit of looking up to the sky to check for a possible artillery strike whenever I walk out of a building,” the former commander of the Marines’ 7th Artillery Company said.

Medical examinations of 149 Yeonpyeong residents who volunteered for a checkup showed more than 65 percent of them fall in the risk group for post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the artillery attack, which made them take refuge for three months before returning home.

Kim recalls that the casualties would have been far greater that day, during which the South was conducting a joint military exercise with the United States, if his company’s artillery drill had gone without a hitch.

Of 60 rounds that his company planned to use for the live-fire exercise with its six K-9 self-propelled 155mm howitzers, the No. 4 howitzer could not fire the last three remaining rounds because its gun barrel was blocked by a dud shell.

“The North began bombarding the island shortly after I ordered all my men to stay inside the howitzers until I found out why the No. 4 K-9 failed to detonate its shells,”he said. “If they were outside the howitzers, many of them would have been killed.”

One North Korean shell hit right in front of the No. 1 howitzer, where five of its crew were aboard. It was engulfed in flames as the fire caught the tall stacks of rubber tires surrounding the encampment. None of them were hurt.

Another shell landed next to the No. 3 howitzer. Shrapnel from the shell damaged its motor drive cable, but none of the crew was seriously injured.

The North fired about 170 artillery shells at Yeonpyeong, of which 80 hit the island. Some 20 of them hit the Artillery Company.

Twist of fate

Not everyone on Yeonpyeong Island was as lucky as Kim’s troops.

Sgt. Seo Jeong-woo, 22, and Pvt. Moon Gwang-wuk, 20, were killed by the sudden shelling, while 16 other Marines were badly wounded. Two construction workers, Kim Chi-baek, 61, and Bae Bok-chul, 60, lost their lives, and three civilians suffered injuries.

Sgt. Han Gyu-dong and Lee Han were among the unfortunate ones. The two enlistee soldiers of a Vulcan unit on Yeonpyeong were hit by shrapnel in the face.

“We left our bomb shelter for a break because we believed the fire drill was over,” Han said. “I don’t recall anything or remember hearing any sound of a hostile shot. I temporarily lost consciousness and later found myself bleeding from the face.”

Han will likely have to live with his reminder of his life with a deep scar on the left side of his upper lip, but says he has forgiven the enemy that hospitalized him for two months.

“I feel pity for the North Korean soldiers, who have become an instrument of the communist regime’s military-first policy, and hope no more tragic incidents occurs before the two Koreas are unified,” he said.

But for Lee and many others who have experienced the traumatic incident, reconciliation is a far-fetched idea that denies the everyday realities they have to encounter.

“I know that North Korean soldiers have to follow orders, but I still hate them,” Lee said. “I just can’t say how much I abhor them.”

Capt. Kim said he has long wanted revenge against North Korean troops for the damage they inflicted on Yeonpyeong Island.

He stressed that he even wished the North would carry out another provocation following the attack and during the following live-fire drill on Dec. 20 last year, so that his troops could pay them back for the suffering they caused.

In pursuit of retaliation

Observers say Yeonpyeong is becoming one of the most heavily fortified islands in the world, to give a clear sign to the North that it will have to pay a heavy price for any further provocation near the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border between the two Koreas.

“As the North’s shelling on Yeonpyeong Island was not something that can be forgotten and must not be forgotten, our military has waited in a fury for an opportunity to strike back while gnashing its teeth over the past year,” Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said.

“We have spent every moment of everyday for a year making all-out efforts to sharpen our knives and ready our guns to sternly and gruesomely retaliate against the enemy’s provocation.”

Kim Hyun-ki, a professor at Kyonggi University, points out that the Yeonpyeong incident was the single most influential factor to make the country shift from passive deterrence to a proactive one.

He said Seoul is no longer reluctant to undertake a “policy of deterrence by punishment” because it is confident that it has superior military capabilities over the North and is capable of effectively retaliating and deterring further provocations.

The professor, however, warned that Seoul’s clear stance that any military provocation will no longer be tolerated may see Pyongyang employ different methods against the South.

“The North may send Special Forces or use its spies in the South to carry out a secretive retaliation or terrorist acts,” he said. “It may also attack smaller cities rather than border islands, which are now well prepared for combat, so that its leader Kim Jong-il or his heir apparent Jong-un would not suffer political damage as a result of the South’s successfully retaliation.”

Defense Minister Kim has vowed that if the North attacks South Korea will destroy the origin of the attack as well as its supporting forces, even deploying fighter jets.