SKorea breaks almost all economic ties with NKorea over warship.

24/5 Tass 56

TOKYO, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak
announced on Monday that South Korea was breaking practically all economic
contacts with North Korea following the sinking of a warship in March, and
said Seoul would immediately use its right to self-defence in case of
future provocations by Pyongyang.
The president announced it live on TV in a program devoted to South
Korea's reaction to the recent sinking of the Cheonan naval ship. Last
week an investing team in Seoul officially announced that the ship had
been destroyed by a torpedo from a North Korean submarine.
In his speech on Monday, the president called it a military attack by
North Korea. He said Seoul would be taking the incident to the U.N.
Security Council.
"We will immediately use our right to self-defence if our territorial
waters, air space or territorial borders are violated," he said. President
Lee Myung-Bak said Seoul would stop all programs of cooperation with North
Korea with the exception of the joint industrial park in the North Korean
city of Kaesong on the border between the two countries, where about 100
South Korean companies operate.
"Any inter-Korean trade or other forms of cooperation have no sense in
the present conditions," he said. The president also reported that from
now on North Korean vessels would not be allowed to sail in South Korean
waters. However, he pledged to continue at a minimum level humanitarian
aid to children and babies in North Korea.
He also urged the authorities in North Korea to immediately apologise
to South Korea and the international community and immediately punish
those who are responsible or were involved in the incident.
At the same time, contrary to some forecasts, the president did not
blame North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as personally responsible for the
sinking of the naval ship.
The Cheonan, a 1,200-ton patrol ship, sank after breaking in two in
waters near the inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea. Forty-six young
sailors were killed in the disaster. Investigators said a North Korean
submarine had infiltrated South Korean waters and attacked the ship with a
torpedo, citing as evidence retrieved parts of the weapon that bore
markings of North Korean letters and design.
-0-zhe/ast


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