Just a few hours ago, North Korea attacked South Korea with artillery fire, which right thereafter was retaliated by the South. Few people know what the cause for this attack actually was. Some do not even know that both countries are technically still at war since 1950.
The actual attack was preceded by a torpedo attack on a South Korean boat just a few weeks earlier. The provoked a major upset in the international community. Yet this is far worse.

According to various news agencies the happenings were as follows

1. North Korea attacked the South.
2. South Korea fired back.
3. China and Russia condemned the North Korean attack.
4. North Korea stated that it has been attacked first and will use massive force in response to any further incidents, which includes violating their sea borders.

This displays the current situation and two specific things are especially interesting.
The first one is the imminent condemnation of this unprovoked attack by North Korea’s close friends Russia and China. Their position in this displays their opposition to war on the Korean peninsula. They are much more satisfied with the status quo, because a hot war is in no one’s interest.

The second one is the path North Korea decided to pursue after the retaliation. By threatening to use their complete army in further skirmishes, they make any further military action by the South and its allies a complete non-issue, which leads directly to the cause of this whole situation.

The sole purpose of this artillery attack and the prior incident is demonstrating force and the ability to strike against the Southern rival. It is very important to know that North Korea is dependent on foreign aid, which mostly comes from the United States, as weird as this might sound.
This year has been especially difficult for the regime, because they suffered a major drought and furthermore the foreign aid was reduced significantly. Looking at the winter ahead, Kim Jong-il needs more help.
It might sound confusing, but he always tried to achieve this through force. The main purpose of the North Korean nuclear program was to receive additional aid for shutting it down.

That’s how this communist regime works and will continue to work.
It is highly unlikely that there will be any further incidents directly related to these attacks, just because the North proved its point and the South knows what is at stake, which is not only the well being of all Koreans, but also the stability in the whole region.

[Update 1]:
President Obama issued a statement today, demonstration the United States’ complete commitment to South Korea. This included the announcement of war games with the Asian ally, which will begin as soon as Sunday.
Pyongyang responded that the Korean peninsula is at the “brink of war”.

The measures taken by the two Koreas are just supporting my thesis that there will be no hot war as a result of the incident. It is similar to some events during the Cold War. Both parties threaten each other with complete destruction, which would be the inevitable outcome of resurgence of the war.