S. Korea to strike back if N. Korea provokes armed clash: defense minister

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea would sternly respond to any preemptive
attack by North Korea on South Korean warships along the disputed maritime border
in the Yellow Sea by striking back at the North's military installations from
which the attack originates, Seoul's defense chief said Friday.
"We will clearly respond to any preemptive artillery or missile attack by North
Korea," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said at a parliamentary hearing.
Lee made the remarks after a ruling party lawmaker asked how the South Korean
military would react if North Korea attacked one of its vessels along the western
sea border, which Pyongyang claims should be drawn further south.
"We will take preventive measures if a missile attack were launched by the enemy,
and the (North Korean) locations where a missile originates must be attacked
because of its obvious act of attack," said the minister.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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