U.S. Military to Aid S. Korea

President Barack Obama agreed Tuesday to conduct joint military exercises with South Korea in response to North Korea's deadly assault earlier in the day. The decision came after an emergency session in the White House Situation Room that included a phone call to South Korean president Lee Myung-bak, and South Korea putting its military in "crisis status"—meaning that country would order strikes against the North if there were indications of new attacks. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Obama called the attack “just one more provocative incident,” and called on China to take a stand against North Korea. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the attack that killed two South Korean soldiers and at least three civilians one of the “gravest incidents since the end of the Korean War.”