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At least the "war of words" between S. and N. Korea is continuing...

And y'day it was - once again - MB's turn to give proof that he's a "trigger-happy agitator", according to the following Yonhap(via K. Herald) news report:

Lee says S. Korea not afraid of war with North Korea

President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that South Koreans should not fear war with North Korea although his government is eager to keep peace on the peninsula.

“If (we) are afraid of war, we can never prevent war,” Lee said in his biweekly radio address, the last of this year.

His remarks represent Seoul’s firm stance to deal resolutely with the communist neighbor’s provocations down the road.

The conservative Lee administration came under harsh public criticism for being too feeble and passive in handling the North’s deadly artillery attack on the Yellow Sea border island of Yeonpyeong last month. It was the North’s second major unprovoked attack on South Korea this year following the torpedoing of a naval ship in March that killed 46 sailors.

“North Korea committed the provocations without reluctance, misjudging our patience and desire for peace,” Lee said. “We have clearly realized the fact that only strong counteractions to military provocations are able to deter war and safeguard peace.”

He said the South had tolerated the North’s belligerence in hopes of maintaining peace on the peninsula, but he stressed that his military should cope with any future attacks without mercy.

Lee also reiterated calls for the South Korean people to boost unity in dealing with the North, a longstanding source of ideological rifts.

“There can’t be ‘you’ and ‘me’ separately when it comes to national security with our life and the country’s fate at stake,”

Lee said, adding the North’s goal is to split public opinion here.

“If our people become one and show united power, North Korea can’t dare to challenge us,” he said. “We learned valuable lessons from the Yeonpyeong incident.”

Concluding his speech, the president said South Korea aspires to reunify with the North peacefully.

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101227000746