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| China-Japan-Koreas | ||
| Seoul Halts All Trade with Norks | ||
| 2010-05-25 | ||
| Seoul is halting all trade with North Korea over the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in March. The measure is one of seven announced by President Lee Myung-bak and the unification, foreign, and defense ministers Monday. In a public address following the announcement of the Cheonan investigation results, Lee attributed the sinking of the Cheonan to a "military provocation by North Korea." "Under these circumstances, any inter-Korean trade or other cooperative activity is meaningless." Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said separately Seoul will halt inter-Korean trade, ban South Korean citizens from visiting the North and making new investments there, and put assistance projects on hold. The government decided to halt new business and investment in the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex and downsize staff there but to continue sending humanitarian aid.
More sanctions are planned in cooperation with international community. The government will ask the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions against the Stalinist country, carry out joint anti-submarine exercises in the West Sea with the U.S., and stage maritime intercept exercises in Korean waters and overseas under the Proliferation Security Initiative to prevent proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan urged the UNSC to adopt a new and separate round of sanctions against the North. "Strictly speaking, the new sanctions should be imposed independently of the existing UNSC sanctions against the North," he said. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said a maritime exercise will be staged in the area under Navy control during the second half of this year, and the Navy will participate in similar intercept exercises overseas under Australian control in September. Lee said South Korea "will not tolerate any provocation by the North and will maintain the principle of proactive deterrence. If our territorial waters, airspace or territory are violated, we will immediately exercise our right of self-defense."
The military is expected to change the rules of engagement in preparation for possible skirmishes near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean border, and along the military demarcation line. The president warned North Korea "will pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts." He urged the North to apologize to South Korea and the international community and "immediately punish" those responsible for the sinking. "Our ultimate goal is not military confrontation but stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula," he said. He stressed the importance of inter-Korean dialogue, adding, "The Korean Peninsula must no longer be left standing as the danger zone in Northeast Asia. The two Koreas must take the initiative and resolve this issue." | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 We should have finished this nearly 60 years ago when Gen. McArthur wanted to go nuclear. In interviews published posthumously, MacArthur said he had a plan that would have won the war in 10 days: "I would have dropped 30 or so atomic bombs . . . strung across the neck of Manchuria." . |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-25 08:02 |
| #1 "Our ultimate goal is not military confrontation but stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula," Moron, half the peninsula wants your blood, and you want to talk? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-05-25 02:01 |