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Latest North/South Korean Exchange - by Stephen Lendman
Last March, North Korea was falsely blamed for sinking a South Korean ship, a topic an earlier article addressed, accessed through the following link:
Seoul said there's "no other plausible explanation....The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that (a) torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine," even though none was detected in the area.
At the time, evidence suggested a false flag, manufactured to blame the North. The incident occurred near Baengnyeong Island opposite North Korea. US Navy Seals and four US ships were conducting joint exercises in the area. The torpedo used was German, not North Korean as claimed. Germany sells none to Pyongyang. Yet it was blamed for what it didn't do, what apparently was Pentagon-manufactured mischief.
What now? According to US media reports, North Korea incited the gravest incident since the Korean War armistice. For example, on November 23, New York Times writer Mark McDonald headlined, "Crisis Status in South Korea After North Shells Island," saying:
"The South Korean military went to "crisis status" on Tuesday (11/23) and threatened military strikes after the North fired dozens of shells at a South Korean island, killing two of the South's soldiers and setting off an exchange of fire in one the most serious clashes between the two sides in decades."
America, Britain and Japan condemned the attack, the White House calling on North Korea to "halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the Armistice Agreement."
"Analysts," said McDonald, "were quick to see the shelling as a deliberate North Korean provocation," even though South Korean forces fired first, AP reporting:
"The skirmish began when Pyongyang warned the South to halt military drills in the area, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters, albeit away from the North Korean shore, the North retaliated by bombarding the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations."
A Pyongyang supreme military command statement read:
"The South Korean enemy, despite our repeated warnings, committed reckless military provocations of firing artillery shells into our maritime territory."
A November 24 McDonald article headlined, "Nerves Are Rattled in Seoul by Attack on Island," discussing the incident solely from a South Korean/Washington perspective, much like other Western media reports.
The BBC, for example, quoted a Seoul analyst, calling Pyongyang's action "an act of war." Other accounts were also inflammatory, Britain's Foreign Secretary, William Hague, condemning the "unprovoked act." Other comments were similar, citing various reasons for the incident (like internal North Korean tensions during a transition of leadership period), except for what, in fact, may be true, though at this point not everything is known.
However, the exchange occurred while South Korean forces were conducting "Hoguk" military exercises scheduled to end on November 30, including simulated landings. Pyongyang called them a rehearsal for invasion.
Now the aftermath, a David Sanger, Mark McDonald Times article headlined, "South Koreans and US to Stage a Joint Exercise," saying:
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