North Korea Increases Criticism of the South

Mr. Kim said that South Korea would respond to any fresh attacks by North Korea with air power, something that it didn't do during the Nov. 23 assault on Yeonpyeong, an island in the Yellow Sea just a few miles from the North Korean coastline. Four South Koreans, two civilians and two Marines, died in the attack.
South Korea has added new weaponry, including multiple rocket launchers, to the island since the attack. And officials have said they will continue to test artillery there, firing into waters that South Korea has long controlled.
North Korea has said that such tests on Nov. 23 prompted it to fire on the island. Its statement use vague terms to claim waters around the island belong to North Korea, and it's unclear whether they refer to water north of the island as South Korea acknowledges as the maritime border, or to the south.
Extreme rhetoric is common in statements from Pyongyang, but Sunday's announcement also claimed that South Korea plans to use the contested maritime border area to "strike the strategic targets deep inside the territory" of North Korea, including Pyongyang. At no time has a South Korean official suggested such a move.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will host her South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Washington to discuss the North Korea attack and plot a diplomatic course.
One key issue they face is whether the three countries will continue to participate in the so-called six-party process that also involves China and Russia and has been used as a forum to discuss denuclearization with North Korea. The U.S. proposed the forum in 2003 but has allowed China to sponsor and convene the meetings.
China has so far taken neutral stance on the North Korean attack, prompting criticism both in and out of the country. High-level Chinese diplomats traveled to Pyongyang last week under pressure from other countries to rein in North Korea.
China, despite being North Korea's chief political and economic benefactor, has asserted limits to its ability to influence dictator Kim Jong Il and his regime.