Last week, South Korea and the UN Command conducted their first ever joint operation to repel Chinese fishing boats engaged in illegal fishing in the Han River estuary.

Soon after the joint operation was announced by General Vincent K. Brooks of the United Nations Command (UNC), South Koreans were divided into the two major groups, with one supporting the operation against Chinese boats and critical of Seoul’s late response, and others urging caution to prevent military clashes with Pyongyang.

“Seoul should be ashamed of itself for standing idle so far from repelling Chinese boats,” the conservative DongA Ilbo’s editorialsaid