Yeonpyeong's Other Victims

They don't look like the same dog but I was particularly struck by these two pics from Yeonpyeong. These bewildered victims of the North Korean artillery attack on the island must've been particularly shell-shocked and I really hope some kind soul will take them off the island soon as it looks as if Yeonpyeong may be a ghost town for some time.  Even if they're not stray dogs to begin with, there's slim chance of them being reunited with their owners as most of the inhabitants have been evacuated already and putting up temporarily in jjimjilbangs in Incheon.

Caption from Korea Times:  Abandoned dog: A dog sits in front of destroyed buildings on Yeonpyeong Island near the West Sea border, Friday. The island was attacked by North Korean artillery fire, which claimed the lives of two marines and two civilians. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

Caption from Yonhap News: Nov. 27, YEONPYEONG, South Korea -- A dog wounded by a North Korean shell that hit the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong earlier this week eats part of a combat ration from a South Korean man on Nov. 27. Most of the residents on the island have evacuated since the artillery attack on Nov. 23. (Yonhap)
sources:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/115_77047.html
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/

Black Tuesday

23 November 2010 was a black day for Yeonpyeong Island and South Korea

Red circle round the artillery positions in bunkers in caves on the North Korean side

What to make of this attack? Kim Jong-un practising brinksmanship under Daddy's tutelage?

From Mark Mardell's blog:

" One astute observer, Fred Kaplan, wrote five years ago: In the game of highway chicken, North Korea is the shrewd lunatic who very visibly throws his steering wheel out the window, forcing the other, more responsible driver to veer off the road.What has changed since then is that the new boy on the road may be even more reckless than his dad and perhaps not as shrewd. As so often these days all eyes are on China. As so often there is an equal danger of exaggerating China's power as underestimating it. There is no sign as yet that North Korea is paying any attention to its only ally. Let's hope it does. It is perhaps the only hope of avoiding a terrible collision in this dangerous game of dare."

From one news source:

According to 2009 government statistics, 1,780 residents live on Yeonpyeong Island in 932 households.

Kim Hye-yeong, a 51-year-old woman who runs a crab seafood restaurant on the island, said she was on a dock to pick up boxes of seafood around 2:30 p.m. when she heard the artillery explosions. “There was an ear-splitting noise whenever the artillery landed,” Kim said. “My town is about 10 minutes away by car from where I work and I felt I must get back there to see my mother and husband. I drove to town but I had to stop, get out of the car and back onto the ground for a moment because artillery fire kept exploding on the island.So I left my car and walked to my village ... I went home and all the windows of my house were shattered and the roof had collapsed. A piece of artillery even landed on my house.”

 There are 19 shelters on the island. But underground bunkers are short on food and electricity.

Grim-faced Seoulites glued to the news at the train station - can they find consolation in the idea that there's strength in restraint, particularly after the Cheonan Incident?

The first night of mourning and candlelight vigils

sources:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/117_76863.html

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/120_76860.html
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/205_76858.html
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/115_76867.html
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/205_76858.html
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2928798
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/11/24/2010112400306.html
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/11/24/2010112401039.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2010/11/a_deadly_game_of_korean_chicke.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/korea-attack-yeonpyeong-island_n_787294.html#s189515
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Analysts-North-Korea-Shelling-Nuclear-Revelations-Linked-to-Succession-Talks-110219459.html