The United States and South Korea prepared for war games Sunday as South Koreans demanded vengeance over a deadly North Korean artillery bombardment that has raised fears of more clashes between the bitter rivals.
A defiant flash of North Korean artillery within sight of the island that it attacked this week sent a warning signal to Seoul and Washington: The North is not backing down.
South Korea's president ordered more troops to a front-line island and dumped his defense minister Thursday as the country grappled with lapses in its response to a deadly North Korean artillery strike.
The Obama administration called on China Wednesday to rein in North Korea after its artillery attack on a South Korean island, as the Pentagon ordered the USS George Washington aircraft carrier strike group to the Yellow Sea for naval exercises with South Korean forces.
President Obama and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak have pledged to hold joint military exercises and enhanced training after North Korea's military forces fired artillery against a South Korean island, prompting the South's forces to return fire.
North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire Tuesday after the North shelled an island near their disputed sea border, killing at least two South Korean marines, setting dozens of buildings ablaze and sending civilians fleeing for shelter.
The threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program has reached an "extremely dangerous level," an adviser to South Korea's president said in comments published Wednesday.
Hyundai Motor unveiled its first electric car Thursday _ the BlueOn _ as it moves to catch up with Japanese rivals that have jumped ahead in the field.
Eight months after he called for action on a string of stalled free-trade deals, the president battles fierce opposition from his own party and concerns over a rising trade deficit.
