Responding to the March sinking of a warship, Seoul will take Pyongyang to the U.N. Security Council, suspend exchanges and ban North Korean ships from its waters
From the Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea —
South Korea's president said Monday his nation will no longer tolerate North Korea's "brutality" and said the regime would pay for a surprise torpedo attack that killed 46 South Korean sailors.
President Lee Myung-bak vowed to take Pyongyang to the U.N. Security Council for punishment over the March 26 sinking of the warship, suspend inter-Korean exchanges and ban North Korean ships from passing through its waters.
In Washington, the Obama administration issued a statement late Sunday saying, "The measures that the government of the Republic of Korea announced today are called for and entirely appropriate".
In a solemn address from the War Memorial, Lee cited an "incessant" pattern of attacks by communist North Korea, including the downing of an airliner in 1987 that killed 115 people. A joint international team said last week their investigation confirmed a North Korean torpedo sank South Korea's Cheonan warship on March 26.
"We have always tolerated North Korea's brutality, time and again. We did so because we have always had a genuine longing for peace on the Korean peninsula," Lee said.
"But now things are different. North Korea will pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts," he said. "I will continue to take stern measures to hold the North accountable".
The truce signed in 1953 at the close of the Korean War prevents South Korea from taking unilateral military action, and the measures laid out Monday sought to strike at impoverished, isolated North Korea diplomatically and financially.
Lee also said South Korea's military was prepared to defend itself from further provocations. The defense minister said the U.S. and South Korea would soon hold joint anti-submarine exercises. Link
