As all of you may already know by now, it has been estimated that North Korea has shot at least 100 shells into a South Korean island called Yeonpyeong Island (연평도). So far it’s been reported that two South Korean marines were killed and 15 or so civilians were injured. In response to the North Korean shelling, South Korea has fired back at least 80 shells. At the very least, the situation in South Korea is very tense.

For the last couple of months, North Korea has been taking several aggressive actions against South Korea. In some ways, this shelling incident isn’t really out of nowhere. For instance, in March 2010, North Korea sunk a South Korean ship where 46 people were killed as a result of the sinking. North Korea has denied the sinking, but a South Korean, U.S. U.K. investigation concluded that North Korea was involved.

A lot of people have been pondering as to why North Korea shot those rounds of shells. In September of 2010, Kim Jong Il’s (김정일) son Kim Jong Un (김정은) was promoted to the rank of general.  Some experts suspect that Kim Jong Un will be Kim Jong Il’s successor, and the shelling was part of a plan to demonstrate Kim Jong Un’s military prowess.  Others are saying that the G20 Summit in South Korea showed how modernized South Korea was in comparison to North Korea.

The fact that North Korea was not invited to the Summit also angered North Korean officials. Therefore the shelling may have been retaliation for leaving North Korea out of the talks. Whatever, the reason, it’s been certain that relations between North and South Korea have always been tense. The shelling is not the first time that a confrontation has occurred on Yeonpyeong Island. There was a skirmish between North and South Korean patrol boats in 2002, in which both sides suffered casualties.

The closest instances of a serious battle, other than this shelling incident, occurred in 1968 when North Korean soldiers crossed the DMZ, in which American soldiers, civilians and South Korean soldiers were killed. The other incident took place in 1976 where American and South Korean soldiers were also killed by North Koreans in the Joint Security Area of the DMZ. As a result, South Korea has had to worry about being attacked not only by sea, but by land as well.

It’s a difficult situation as to what South Korea should do next. Should they go to war? Should they try to appease the North Koreans? History has shown with Hitler that appeasement doesn’t always work. The idea of war is certainly frightening. Some South Korean families have relatives in North Korea. If another battle ensues, families will be torn apart. One thing is for sure, everyone is hoping that no more people get hurt and that there will be a complete stop to the bloodshed.