U.S. scrambles to limit Korea hostilities

Reporting from Washington and Seoul — As Seoul threatened retaliation for North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island, U.S. officials scrambled Tuesday to avert any catastrophic escalation of hostilities after one of the most serious confrontations on the Korean peninsula in decades.

The shelling — which killed two soldiers and injured 19 people, including three civilians — sent South Koreans fleeing the west coast island of Yeonpyeong as their government put the air force on high alert and declared that North Korea would face "stern retaliation" if it launched further attacks.

Condemnation of the North came swiftly from foreign capitals. President Obama was "outraged," an aide said, saying the Pyongyang government was "an ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with." The White House called on North Korea to end "its belligerent action."

The Obama administration sought to build diplomatic pressure on North Korea by enlisting the help of China, which provides vital energy assistance and other aid to the impoverished communist country. U.S. officials and allies began trying to round up support for a U.N. Security Council statement that would condemn Pyongyang's action, diplomats said.

Such a statement would mark a significant shift for China, which strongly resisted international efforts to penalize North Korea after an international inquiry found that Pyongyang sank a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in March. Diplomats said it was not immediately clear whether China would be willing to condemn its neighbor, despite the growing international pressure.

Visiting Beijing on Wednesday, U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth read from a statement calling on North Korea to "cease its provocative and irresponsible actions against its neighbors" and fully abide by the armistice that ended the fighting in the Korean War in 1953.

Bosworth did not answer questions about whether the United States would be able to enlist Beijing's support in reining in the North. But signals from China's state media were not encouraging. The Global Times, which has close ties to the ruling Communist Party, barely chastised North Korea for the attack and pointed to the "hard-line policies" of South Korea and the "futile" economic sanctions by the United States.

A number of high-ranking members of Congress on Tuesday called on China to exert stronger influence on the North.