South Korea defence minister quits after island bombardment

SEOUL - South Korean Defence Minister Kim Tae Young resigned Thursday, accepting responsibility for the country’s criticized response to North Korea’s bombardment of one of its islands, news reports said.

Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties earlier in the day had called for Kim and leading military leaders to be dismissed, accusing them of fumbling the response to Tuesday’s artillery attack, which killed two soldiers and two civilians on Yeonpyeong island near the two countries’ disputed maritime border.

The presidential office said President Lee Myung Bak had accepted Kim’s resignation.

Lee’s government - which returned the North’s artillery fire, targeting artillery posts on the North Korean coast - has been criticized for responding too weakly to the attack.