Credit where it’s due: If Barack Obama holds this line and doesn’t retreat or apologize later, then he took the right stance in response to North Korean aggression.

“Our support for South Korea’s defense is unequivocal, and President Obama has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their Korean counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression,” Mrs. Clinton said on the sidelines of the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing. “As part of our ongoing dialogue, we will explore further enhancements to our joint posture on the peninsula.”

Pentagon officials later Monday announced joint U.S.-South Korean training exercises, including anti-submarine and maritime interdiction training. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the U.S. hadn’t yet decided whether to change its military readiness level in the region.

The United States isn’t sending additional troops or equipment to South Korea as of now, but the show of force and reiteration of full military support for our ally is refreshing coming from this administration. Pyongyang must know that the United States won’t retreat but will stand with the Republic of Korea.

On a side note: How sad, our state of affairs, when anything more than complete weakness on foreign policy from the White House is worthy of shock and praise. As I said in the opening paragraph, we can only hope that Barack Obama holds the line and doesn’t later back down or apologize for Secretary Clinton’s statement.