N. Korea “will pay price” for sinking ship

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak says North Korea will pay the price for sinking a South Korean naval ship in March.

Izvor: VOA

Monday, 24.05.2010.

09:51

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South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak says North Korea will pay the price for sinking a South Korean naval ship in March. Lee told a nationwide television audience Monday that his government will appeal to the United Nations Security Council for sanctions against the North. N. Korea “will pay price” for sinking ship He also said North Korean commercial ships will no longer be permitted to sail in South Korean waters, and that all trade and exchanges with the North will be frozen, except for a joint industrial park project. The South Korean leader said his country will invoke its right to defend itself if Pyongyang wages aggression again. But he said Seoul is not looking for a military confrontation. Seoul has accused Pyongyang of firing a torpedo at the warship Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors. North Korea has accused South Korea of faking the incident, and has threatened to go to war if South Korea retaliates. Most of the international community has condemned the sinking. But it is not clear what if anything the Security Council will do in response. U.S. officials have refrained from calling the attack either an act of war or state-sponsored terrorism. But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tokyo Friday denounced North Korea for sinking the South Korean ship, and she warned that "provocative actions have consequences." The area where the South Korean ship sank is near a maritime border designated by the U.N. Command at the signing of the 1953 Korean armistice. Pyongyang has never accepted the border as valid. The two Koreas have fought three naval clashes in the area since 1999.

N. Korea “will pay price” for sinking ship

He also said North Korean commercial ships will no longer be permitted to sail in South Korean waters, and that all trade and exchanges with the North will be frozen, except for a joint industrial park project.

The South Korean leader said his country will invoke its right to defend itself if Pyongyang wages aggression again. But he said Seoul is not looking for a military confrontation.

Seoul has accused Pyongyang of firing a torpedo at the warship Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors. North Korea has accused South Korea of faking the incident, and has threatened to go to war if South Korea retaliates.

Most of the international community has condemned the sinking. But it is not clear what if anything the Security Council will do in response.

U.S. officials have refrained from calling the attack either an act of war or state-sponsored terrorism.

But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tokyo Friday denounced North Korea for sinking the South Korean ship, and she warned that "provocative actions have consequences."

The area where the South Korean ship sank is near a maritime border designated by the U.N. Command at the signing of the 1953 Korean armistice. Pyongyang has never accepted the border as valid. The two Koreas have fought three naval clashes in the area since 1999.

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