North Korea threatens to close border
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea threatened today to block cross-border traffic and blow up any South Korean loudspeakers blasting propaganda northward after a six-year hiatus, as tensions soared over the sinking of a South Korean warship.
The dramatic deterioration in relations came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Seoul at the end of a three-nation Asian tour that was dominated by the March 26 sinking blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack.
"This was an unacceptable provocation by North Korea, and the international community has a responsibility and a duty to respond," Clinton told reporters after talks with South Korean leaders.
A team of international investigators concluded last week that a homing torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore apart the 1,200-ton Cheonan off the west coast, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
South Korea began taking punitive steps Tuesday against North Korea — ranging from slashing trade, resuming propaganda warfare and barring the North's cargo ships. Those were seen as among the strongest it could implement short of military action.
The U.S. has said evidence of the North's culpability is overwhelming and has backed the South's measures, but key North Korea ally China has said it is still weighing evidence about the sinking and has done little but urge calm on all sides.
"I believe that the Chinese understand the seriousness of this issue and are willing to listen to the concerns expressed by both South Korea and the United States," said Clinton, who visited China before coming to Seoul. "We expect to be working with China as we move forward in fashioning a response."
The North flatly denies it caused the sinking and has warned retaliation would lead to war. On Tuesday, Pyongyang announced it was cutting relations with South Korea, starting "all-out counterattacks" against the South's psychological warfare operations and barring South Korean ships and airliners from passing through its territory.
Today, the North cut off some cross-border communication links and expelled eight South Korean government officials from a joint factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.
The North's military also issued a statement warning it would "totally ban" the passage of South Korean personnel and vehicles to an inter-Korean zone in the western coastal area, apparently referring to Kaesong, if South Korea does not stop its psychological warfare. It did not mention another border crossing on the eastern side of the peninsula, which remained open.
The statement said it would shoot at and "blow up" any loudspeakers South Korea installs at the border. Seoul dismantled such devices six years ago amid warming ties, but resumed radio broadcasts Monday into the North and said loudspeakers would be reinstalled within weeks.
