UPDATE 1715 GMT: The US force for Sunday's joint exercise with South Korea will include the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and four other ships, carrying 6,000 sailors and 75 aircraf
“These [exercises] are not a direct reaction [to Tuesday's North Korean artillery attack],” USFK spokesman David Oten said. “Basically, they’re unrelated.”
UPDATE 1640 GMT: North Korea's Foreign Ministry has again blamed South Korea for the artillery barrage: "The enemies, despite our repeated warnings, eventually committed extremely reckless military provocations of firing artillery shells into our maritime territory near Yeonpyeong Island beginning 1 p.m. Tuesday."
There has been no resumption of conflict since yesterday's North Korean artillery barrage against Yeonpyeong Island; however, the bodies of two civilians killed in the assault have been found this morning. Two South Korean soldiers died of wounds on Tuesday.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will convene an emergency meeting of security and economy related ministers on Thursday "to discuss ways to minimize the impact of North Korea's deadly attack on the South Korean economy and on military tensions on the peninsula".
Seoul has halted aid to North Korea, vowed to bolster the military presence on front-line islands, and promised tougher retaliation against future "provocations". North Korea has responded that it no longer cares about humanitarian exchanges.
The US military announced that it will hold a joint naval drill with South Korea in the Yellow Sea from Sunday. "The USS George Washington carrier strike group will join Republic of Korea naval forces in the waters west of the Korean Peninsula from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 to conduct the next exercise," the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said in a statement.