The Shrine

South Korea says it has returned fire after North Korea fired around 200 artillery shells at one of its border islands, reportedly killing one marine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11818005

Best line: "North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il is thought to be ill and trying to ensure the succession of his youngest son."

It should be an easy situation to solve with tactful diplomacy. Both sides claiming the other fired first.... Change it with Nukes and you have a 2000 page Tom Clancy novel

Looks like someone on the South Korean/US side wants war against North Korea

Putting civilians around obvious military targets, and then doing military exercises in the area that could be interpreted as an attack, thus provoking an attack against the obvious military targets seems rather deliberate. If you're going to do military exercises, why do it in a threatening location unless you're trying to provoke an attack? This is similar to when India and Pakistan were doing this, ultimately having nuclear tests done near the border. The civilians in the area getting hit look like they were positioned there in order to create martyrs. Now obviously, with these rallies, someone is trying to start a war.

Anyway, I was talking to one of my best friends who is living in SK (has been there for most of the last two and a half years), and he says the situation is not nearly as serious sounding as the Canadian Newspapers are making it sound. So I am not really sure what to think yet. The rallies might be just a small amount of drunk idiots, all military forces have those.

Seriously Seek, you're believing the NK's on this one? I doubt anyone lives more than a few miles from some kind of military infrastructure or equipment over there; plus in this case it's a tiny island. And provoking an attack? It's a military exercise they told NK about far in advance exactly when and where it would be so this was no surprise. They've been doing those same exercises for decades.

I guess you think the Cheonan, the SK ship that was sunk a few months back, had it coming too?

This is just a child trying to rile up daddy to see what they can get away with.

Just look at the way they dress. They were asking for it.