S Korea vows to retaliate North’s attack

South Korea, which has laid to rest two of its marines killed during the recent artillery attack by North Korean forces, has vowed to avenge the deaths.

“We will certainly avenge your deaths,” said Lieutenant General Yoo Nak-Joon, the commander of South Korean Marine Corps at an emotionally-charged funeral, which was held in a military hospital near the South Korean capital of Seoul on Saturday, AFP reported Saturday.

Two marines and two civilians were killed on Tuesday during the shelling of a South Korean island by North Korean forces near their disputed maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea.

The funeral was attended by senior South Korean officials, two military commanders, hundreds of uniformed troops and the relatives of the fallen soldiers as tempers on the Korean Peninsula are beginning to fray over tensions that threaten to spiral out of control.

The still-unfolding conflict has come into a sharper focus as the nuclear-powered carrier the USS George Washington heads for waters west of the Korean Peninsula to engage in a four-day military drill, which has provoked fury among Chinese officials in Beijing.

Even though US officials claim the maneuver is purely for defensive purposes, China — long considered a key ally of North Korea — has voiced serious concerns over the move.

Meanwhile, that Chinese military said on Saturday that the country’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, spoke with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his South Korean counterpart about the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

China has warned the United States against going ahead with any military adventurism on the Korean Peninsula following the recent exchange of fire between the two Koreas.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley stated that Clinton spoke with the Chinese foreign minister and urged Beijing” to make clear to North Korea that its recent actions are unacceptable.”

The outburst of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula over the past few days threatens to trigger a full-blown conflict in the region.

In May, Seoul accused Pyongyang of sinking a South Korean warship that left 46 sailors dead — a charge that has been flatly rejected by North Korean officials.