South Koreans delay army drill as tensions rise

The move was taken as sign of disarray hours after the president vowed to get tough on the North.

Similar live-fire manoeuvres by South Korean troops last week triggered the North's bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island that killed four people and drew return fire in a clash that set the region on edge.

The new drills originally planned for tomorrow could have had even higher stakes: South Korean and American warships are currently engaged in separate military exercises in waters to the south.

Officials at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the latest drills were postponed after the marine unit on the island mistakenly announced them without getting final approval from higher military authorities.

The cancellation had nothing to do with North Korea, and the drills will take place later, one said.

Pyongyang had warned last week that it would consider any South Korean drills off Yeonpyeong Island a deliberate provocation and territorial violation, and urged Seoul to call off last week's exercises. The artillery attack came after South Korea went ahead with its drills.

Earlier yesterday President Lee Myung-bak gave his first address to the nation in nearly a week, taking responsibility for failing to protect his citizens, expressing outrage at the North's "ruthlessness" and vowing tough consequences for any future aggression.

Mr Lee has come under criticism for what opponents have called lapses in South Korea's response to the attack just eight months after the sinking of a South Korean warship in nearby waters that killed 46 sailors.

Hours after his speech, authorities on Yeonpyeong Island announced new live-fire drills for this morning, warning residents by loudspeaker to take shelter in underground bunkers well in advance. Another announcement later in the evening said there would be no exercise.

Meanwhile, a nuclear-powered US supercarrier and a South Korean destroyer carried out joint military exercises in the waters south of the island in a united show of force by the allies.

Under pressure to take stronger action in dealing with the defiant North, Lee lashed out at Pyongyang yesterday.

"Only a few metres away from where shells landed, there is a school where classes were going on," Mr Lee said.

"I am outraged by the ruthlessness of the North Korean regime, which is even indifferent to the lives of little children."

In the past week, Mr Lee has replaced his defence minister, ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands, and upgraded the military rules of engagement.

Minutes later, North Korea issued another threat to attack South Korea and the United States, calling the allies' joint war drills "yet another grave military provocation."

The two Koreas are required to abide by an armistice signed in 1953 at the close of their three-year war.

However North Korea does not recognise the maritime border drawn by the UN at the close of the war, and considers the waters around Yeonpyeong Island – just seven miles from its shores – its territory.

China has already stepped in to try to help defuse the situation, by offering an emergency meeting in Beijing.

Its nuclear envoy Wu Dawei expressed the fears of the international community over the current stand-off and suggested the six states which have been involved in talks over North Korea's nuclear disarmament should meet later this month to try to find a solution.

South Korea's response to the call has been lukewarm and China has been urged to do much more to keep its wayward neighbour under control.

China has not criticised North Korea for its attack on the South, saying only that all sides should try to show restraint.

North's history of aggression

The aggression from North Korea is the latest in a catalogue of skirmishes which have gone on since the end of Korea's civil war in 1953.

Earlier this year a South Korean warship was sunk, by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine.

Historically, one of the most high profile incidents was an attempt in the 1960s to assassinate South Korea's president Park Chung-hee when a team of 30 North Korean troops entered the South disguised as soldiers from that state.

Although they got close the presidential palace, their identity was discovered and most were killed.

In the 1980s a bombing of South Korean Government officials was also blamed on the North.