N. Korea: U.S.-S. Korean exercises push to brink of war

North Korea warned Friday that planned U.S.-South Korean naval exercises are pushing the peninsula to the brink of war. The North's state Korean Central News Agency said drills involving a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier are a reckless plan by "trigger-happy elements" aimed at North Korea. Pyongyang has used such language frequently in the past to condemn military exercises in South Korea. N. Korea: U.S.-S. Korean exercises push to brink of war Fresh artillery fire was heard in the North Friday, but a spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said no projectiles landed on South Korean territory. Also Friday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak considered candidates to succeed Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, who resigned Thursday after being accused of a weak response to North Korea's deadly artillery strike on a South Korean island on Tuesday. Two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed and at least 18 people were wounded in the attack on Yeonpyeong near the disputed border in the Yellow Sea. South Korea said Thursday it is beefing up military forces on the islands near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea. Officials also say they will revise rules of military engagement to permit a more aggressive reply to future attacks. Pyongyang has threatened additional attacks if , as it said, there are further provocations. North Korea's closest ally, China, Thursday repeated its call for both sides to exercise restraint. Beijing has been under international pressure to use its influence to rein in its neighbor. A spokesman for China's foreign ministry, Hong Lei, told reporters Thursday that China wants parties to work towards creating conditions for resuming six-nation talks on North Korea's disarmament. Pyongyang abandoned those talks last year after the United Nations imposed tough new sanctions on the regime. North Korea fired about 100 shells at Yeonpyeong Tuesday. Pyongyang said the attack was a response to what it called a provocative South Korean military drill in which shells were fired from the island. North Korea claims sovereignty over the island and surrounding waters. South Korea retaliated about 10 minutes later by firing 80 shells from K-9 howitzers at the North Korean coastal artillery that launched the attack. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated Washington's commitment to its alliance with South Korea in a phone call Thursday to her South Korean counterpart, Kim Sung-hwan. Reporters who visited Yeonpyeong Thursday saw damaged homes and streets strewn with broken glass and debris. Most of the island's 1,600 residents fled to the South Korean mainland after the attack. North Korean soldiers on the bank of the Yalu River (Beta/AP)

N. Korea: U.S.-S. Korean exercises push to brink of war

Fresh artillery fire was heard in the North Friday, but a spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said no projectiles landed on South Korean territory.

Also Friday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak considered candidates to succeed Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, who resigned Thursday after being accused of a weak response to North Korea's deadly artillery strike on a South Korean island on Tuesday.

Two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed and at least 18 people were wounded in the attack on Yeonpyeong near the disputed border in the Yellow Sea.

South Korea said Thursday it is beefing up military forces on the islands near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea. Officials also say they will revise rules of military engagement to permit a more aggressive reply to future attacks.

Pyongyang has threatened additional attacks if , as it said, there are further provocations.

North Korea's closest ally, China, Thursday repeated its call for both sides to exercise restraint.

Beijing has been under international pressure to use its influence to rein in its neighbor. A spokesman for China's foreign ministry, Hong Lei, told reporters Thursday that China wants parties to work towards creating conditions for resuming six-nation talks on North Korea's disarmament. Pyongyang abandoned those talks last year after the United Nations imposed tough new sanctions on the regime.

North Korea fired about 100 shells at Yeonpyeong Tuesday. Pyongyang said the attack was a response to what it called a provocative South Korean military drill in which shells were fired from the island. North Korea claims sovereignty over the island and surrounding waters.

South Korea retaliated about 10 minutes later by firing 80 shells from K-9 howitzers at the North Korean coastal artillery that launched the attack.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated Washington's commitment to its alliance with South Korea in a phone call Thursday to her South Korean counterpart, Kim Sung-hwan.

Reporters who visited Yeonpyeong Thursday saw damaged homes and streets strewn with broken glass and debris. Most of the island's 1,600 residents fled to the South Korean mainland after the attack.