North Korea Fires Artillery Rounds at South Korean Island…

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Veterans of the South Korean military protested on the streets of the nation's capital Saturday, stating they were angry that their country's government had not done enough to respond to recent shelling by North Korea.
One group of protesters gathered near the defense ministry building Saturday. The crowd clashed with police officers, some charging and kicking officers.
The protests come as tensions between the Koreas are growing. On Tuesday, North Korea shelled South Korea's
Yeonpyeong Island, killing four South Koreans -- including two civilians -- and wounding 15 others.
North Korea said the South provoked the attack because shells from a South Korean military drill landed in the North's waters. South Korea was holding its annual Hoguk military drill when the North started its shelling.

On Saturday, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency called reports of civilian casualties part of South Korea's "propaganda campaign."
"If that is true, it is very regrettable, but the enemy should be held responsible for the incident as it took such inhuman action as creating 'a human shield' by deploying civilians around artillery positions and inside military facilities before the launch of the provocation," the KCNA statement said.

Two South Korean marines were also killed in the shelling. On Saturday, hundreds of mourners attended their funeral, weeping before photos of the two men set among an array of flowers.
Meanwhile, the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington is set to join South Korea's forces near the coasts of China and North Korea in a four-day military drill that starts Sunday.

Cmdr. Jeff Davis, public affairs officer for the U.S. 7th Fleet, told CNN Saturday that the military drills will begin around noon Sunday.
There will be no live firing element in the drills; live firing exercises can only take place in a designated training range or in a closed-off area at sea, Davis said, and such firing exercises are not possible given the amount of traffic in the area.
The drills will include anti-air attack and anti-surface-attack exercises, communications and data drills, expert exchanges, logistical support, and replenishment drills. For example, a Korean oil tanker will refuel a U.S. ship, Davis said.

On Friday, China appeared to criticize the U.S.-South Korean military exercise.
"We oppose any party to take any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua quoted Chinese scholars who also criticized the planned drill by U.S. and South Korean (Republic of Korea) forces.

"The United States and ROK should not take sensitive and provocative military actions at such a sensitive time and place," said Maj. Gen. General Luo Yuan, a researcher with the Chinese People's Liberation Army's Military Science Academy.
He likened the planned exercise to "pouring oil onto flames."
But China, North Korea's largest trading partner, also called for an easing of tensions. "As the Korean Peninsula situation is highly complicated and sensitive, all parties concerned should stay calm and exercise restraint," Hong said.
The United States has described the drill as defensive in nature. The exercises were planned months ago, and are meant to underscore strong ties between South Korea and the United States, defense officials from both countries have said.

On Friday, South Korea named a new defense minister to replace the official who resigned Thursday amid criticism due to North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship in March and Tuesday's deadly shelling.
North Korea has denied involvement in the sinking.
South Korea's government nominated Kim Kwan-jin as defense minister, a Blue House media official told CNN.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak drew criticism for his initial statements after the Yeonpyeong bombardment, when he asked for a stern response but also called for de-escalatory measures to be taken. Later that day, Lee spoke to the military and urged heavy retaliation.

The Yeonpyeong attack was the first direct artillery assault on South Korea since 1953, when an armistice ended fighting, though both Koreas are still technically at war.