South Korea said Friday it would bomb North Korea if it tries a repeat of last week's attack, with the United States warning of an "immediate threat" from Pyongyang.
Kim Kwan-jin, a retired general, was speaking at a parliamentary meeting confirming him as new defense minister, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said North Korea threatened the region and the world.
The hearing is a formality as South Korea's National Assembly does not have the power to reject Lee's appointment.
"If there are further provocations, we will definitely use aircraft to bomb North Korea," Kim said, when asked how he would respond to another attack after last week's North Korean bombardment of an island near their disputed border, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians.
Kim said it will be difficult for North Korea to conduct a full-scale war because of its weak economy and worries over the success of a plan to transfer power from leader Kim Jong Il to his young, untested son, Kim Jong Un.
The tough words came as president Lee Myung-bak's government suffered intense criticism that the response to the North's Nov. 23 shelling was weak, and over a stunning revelation that the South's spy chief dismissed information in August indicating North Korea might attack the front-line island.
Despite the bold declarations, questions have been raised about Lee's readiness — and even willingness — to stand up to the North.
The president has been criticized for leading a military whose response to the attack was seen as too slow and too weak. The North fired 170 rounds, compared with 80 returned by South Korea.
Satellite photos showed only about 10 South Korean rounds landed near North Korea's army barracks along the west coast, according to the office of lawmaker Kwon Young-se, who said he saw the images provided Thursday by the National Intelligence Service.
For nearly 60 years, the two Koreas have faced each other across one of the world's most heavily armed borders. They have never signed a peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
Targeting SeoulAlso Friday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that North Korea has boosted the number of multiple-launch rockets capable of hitting Seoul, which is home to some 25 million people including its satellite cities.
Yonhap, citing an unidentified South Korean military source, said North Korea's rockets have increased by 100 pieces to about 5,200.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it could not confirm the report because it involves military intelligence.
Meanwhile, top diplomats from Washington, Tokyo and Seoul were planning to meet in Washington on Monday to plot a strategy on dealing with the country. The three countries remain way of holding talks with the North.
North Korean ally China, pushing for an emergency meeting of the six countries involved in denuclearization talks, is not going.
That means the discussions in Washington have little chance of breaking the impasse within the international community on a common approach to deal with the mounting tension on the Korean peninsula.
Although it won't be part of that meeting, China said Thursday it would keep a "close watch" on those talks and sounded upbeat about what they could achieve.
"As the situation on the Korean peninsula is highly complicated and sensitive, we expect the meeting to ease tensions and promote dialogue, rather than heighten tensions and intensify confrontation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement.
She said she also hoped the three countries would give "positive consideration" to China's proposal for emergency consultations among the participants in the six-party talks. Earlier Thursday, Jiang said that Russia had expressed interest.
'An immediate threat'
South Korea's foreign ministry said a joint statement criticizing North Korea's shelling of South Korea was being prepared.
Japan's Mainichi newspaper said the statement would call on North Korea to stop provocative actions and enrichment of uranium — a second way for it to produce material for nuclear weapons.
U.S. and Japanese forces were beginning fresh maneuvers Friday, adding to tension. The exercises will involve about 44,500 personnel.
Japanese Defense Minister Toshiba Kitazawa described the maneuvers as "normal training" held every two years.
"Changes in the regional security situation are naturally taken into consideration," he said. "But this is not something that is targeted at any particular country."
Clinton said: "North Korea poses an immediate threat to the region around us, particularly to South Korea and Japan."
"It poses a medium-term threat if it were to collapse to China, because of refugees and other instability. And it poses a long-term threat to the entire world, because of its nuclear program, and its export of weapons around the world," she added.
South Korea had exercised great restraint, Clinton said in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, according to a transcript released by the State Department.
The United States has been pushing China, North Korea's only major ally, to bring the reclusive country to heel. China has refused to blame North Korea for last week's attack, or for the earlier sinking of a South Korean naval vessel. A team of international investigators said the North torpedoed the ship.
More attacks?
On Wednesday, South Korea's spy chief said it was highly likely the North would attack its wealthy neighbor again.
China, which said it would not play favorites in the dispute, has proposed emergency talks of the two Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. Only Russia has given its support.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kiang Yup responded to criticism that China was not doing enough with a thinly disguised slap at the U.S.-South Korea military maneuvers.
"Those who brandish weapons are seen to be justified, yet China is criticized for calling for talks. Is that justified?"
North Korea walked away from the six-nation disarmament-for-aid talks in April 2009 but has said it now wants to restart them.
On resumption of the nuclear negotiations, Seoul says North Korea must show real commitment to disarm. It has noted that Pyongyang has gone in the wrong direction with its revelation last month of a new uranium enrichment facility that would give it a second way to make nuclear bombs.