TOKYO, Dec 7 (KUNA) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday he wants to turn Yeonpyeong Island, recently hit by a North Korean artillery attack, and four other western border islands into "military fortresses," Yonhap News Agency reported.
In a Cabinet meeting in Seoul, Lee instructed related ministries to "gradually push for the military fortification" of the five islands vulnerable to the North's unremitting provocation, Lee's spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told reporters, according to the report.
"Various ministries should also cooperate in creating jobs and other conditions for residents to continue to stay there," the president was quoted as saying.
Lee's comments came as worries grow that the five small islands near the Yellow Sea border may become "ghost lands." A growing number of residents there, mostly fishermen and their families and small restaurant owners, have been calling for government measures to help them move to other areas where there are no direct threats of North Korean military attacks.
On Nov. 23, the North launched an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, which has about 1,400 residents and also hosts a Marine Corps base, killing two soldiers and two construction workers. Many of the local residents fled from the island right after the North's shelling. (end) mk.aff KUNA 071231 Dec 10NNNN