Political Pressure to Act in South Korea Rises

The first to fall because South Korea's government response to North Korea has not been seen as tough enough by the people. Talk about a tough situation.

South Korea's defense minister resigned Thursday amid intense criticism two days after a North Korean artillery attack killed four people on a small island near the Koreas' disputed frontier.

The move came as President Lee Myung-bak vowed to send more troops to the front-line South Korean island and as residents tried to salvage belongings from the blackened wreckage of their homes. Pyongyang warned of additional attacks if provoked.

Hours before Defense Minister Kim Tae-young's resignation, lawmakers had lashed out at the government, claiming officials were unprepared for Tuesday's attack and that the military response to the North's barrage was too slow. Even those in Lee's ruling party demanded Kim's dismissal as well as those of military leaders and some presidential aides.

Lee accepted Kim's resignation and a new defense chief will be announced Friday, presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee said.

The number of killed and wounded in Seoul on the first day of a major war between the North and South Korea could easily reach a million people. I read these hawkish morons running around suggesting the many scores of thousands of North Korean artillery pieces will be destroyed in the first 5 minutes, and "it is time to attack!!!!!!!"

Clearly war is a video game to some folks.

Preventing war is a hard thing in politics, and even when someone prevents war there can be political fallout. For managing escalation of hostilities, and not broadening the conflict into a major war - South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae was fired. Tough draw- that.

Talk about terrible timing though. It is legitimate to be concerned regarding the wisdom of firing a nations defense minister in the midst of military crisis and very high tensions.