By Stephen McDonell in Seoul, staff Updated
Show of strength: the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (US Navy: Adam K Thomas)
South Korea and the United States will put on a show of military strength in response to this week's artillery attack by the North.
The US will send the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in a joint naval exercise planned for the coming days.
The extended South Korean-US war games are a response to North Korea's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island.
North Korea fired dozens of rounds of artillery shells into the South, killing two marines and two civilians and wounding many others on the border island.
The discovery of civilians amongst the casualties has increased both concern and anger in South Korea.
But South Koreans remain divided on how they should respond to the North's artillery attack.
Some believe North Korea deserves a stronger military response. Others are urging that a war must be averted.
There was to be a Red Cross meeting this week to organise desperately needed aid for North Korea, but the South has now cancelled this aid.
Access to the demilitarised zone along the border has been shut down.
People on South Korean islands near the border have also been ordered to evacuate.
South Korean president Lee Myung-bak says his country will not tolerate such unprovoked attacks, but in reality the South does not have many ways to counter them.
The South fired its own shells back across the border, but says it does not want to increase the conflict.
Outrage
The international community, meanwhile, has expressed outrage at the latest provocation by the North.
US president Barack Obama was woken with news of the attack and has promised his country will defend its South Korean ally.
"South Korea is our ally. It has been since the Korean War and we strongly affirm our commitment to defend South Korea as part of that alliance," he said.
The US has almost 30,000 troops in South Korea, so its response is being closely watched.
Australia has also condemned the artillery attack and urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says members of the National Security Commission of Cabinet have been briefed on the situation.
She says both sides in Korea are heavily armed and the consequences of a further escalation would be enormous.
"We are in close consultation with South Korean and Japanese and US partners, and we will also be urging China to bring what influence it can to bear on North Korea," she said.
"It's important we believe for all nations, including our own, to stand up in complete condemnation of North Korea's aggression."
Officials from China, considered North Korea's closest ally, have met the US envoy in Beijing and pledged to try and resume six-party talks with the North.
A statement on the Chinese foreign ministry's website says China will seek to maintain peace and stability and seek the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
The attack comes days after reports the North has secretly built a new nuclear facility capable of enriching uranium.
Last month, officials in the North confirmed Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il, would succeed his dictator father.
- ABC/Reuters
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