SKorea 'should have hit harder'
SEOUL - MORE than 80 per cent of South Koreans believe their
military should have hit back harder after North Korea last week
launched a deadly artillery strike, a poll showed on Monday.
In case of another North Korean provocation, 40.6 per cent
favour military retaliation calibrated to avoid all-out war, while
33 per cent are willing to risk war to deliver a strong military
response, the survey found.
More than 90 per cent are unhappy with China's muted reaction
after it failed to condemn its long-time ally Pyongyang over the
attack, according to the poll by the Asan Institute for Policy
Studies.
Almost 76 per cent support a major US-South Korean naval drill
in the Yellow Sea that is meant as a show of force to North Korea
but has led the North to warn that the region is 'on the brink of
war'.
The institute carried out the nationwide phone survey of 1,000
people on Saturday, four days after the hardline regime killed four
people and wounded 18 in its artillery attack on the frontline
island of Yeonpyeong.
South Korea returned fire but shied away from air strikes,
fearing a dangerous escalation.
-- AFP