(South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak with Hillary Clinton)
South Korean ships and North Korean submarines were playing a cat-and-mouse game in the Sea of Japan today as foreign governments struggled to find a response to the North’s sinking of a South Korean naval ship.
Speaking in Seoul, alongside the South Korean foreign minister, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called on the international community to take retaliatory action against Pyongyang, which is accused of causing the deaths of 46 sailors in an unprovoked torpedo attack on the corvette Cheonan in March.
But she failed to specify any concrete measures, underlining how few options, short of full scale war, are available in dealing with the North.
“This was an unacceptable provocation by North Korea and the international community has a responsibility and a duty to respond,” Mrs Clinton said in Seoul after talks with her South Korean counterpart, Yu Myung Hwan.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to belligerence and provocation. We will stand with you in this difficult hour and will stand with you always.”
She added: “We call on North Korea to halt its provocations and its policy of threats and belligerence towards its neighbours… The United States is also reviewing additional options and authorities to hold North Korea and its leaders accountable.”
Meanwhile, the South Korean navy was attempting to track four North Korean submarines which disappeared from radar screens after leaving a base in the north-east of the country earlier this week.
According to the Yonhap news agency in Seoul, the 300-tonne Sang-O class submarines vanished after leaving Chaho naval base in the province of North Hamkyong, close to the site where North Korea tests its nuclear weapons.
The South Korean defence ministry said that the vessels appeared to be on a routine training exercise, but the news added to tensions which have increased every day since Seoul’s announcement last Thursday of the results of an international investigation which found that the Cheonan was sunk by a sneak North Korean torpedo attack.
“It's quite rare that a multiple number of North Korean submarines have left no traces for two straight days,” an unnamed defence official was quoted telling Yonhap. “We're trying to find them by using all naval capabilities in the Sea of Japan.”
After the conclusion of the investigation, South Korea announced the suspension of what little trade it has with Pyongyang and the resumption of propaganda broadcasts across the so-called Demilitarised Zone, the tense land border between the two countries. Yesterday, the North threatened to retaliate by closing the last road link across the DMZ, and to bombard the huge digital signboards which the South is threatening to erect on the border.
“The South Korean puppet war-like forces would be well advised to act with discretion,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, “bearing deep in mind that such measures of the Korean People’s Army will not end in an empty talk.”
Seoul has announced that it will take the attack to the United Nations Security Council, but China and Russia, which both have a veto, have already indicated a reluctance to agree to strong condemnation.
“When we are taking this to the Security Council, the most important thing is the facts,” Mr Yu said today. “I believe we should let the facts lead everything. It may take some time but I believe China and Russia will not be able to deny the facts.”
times
South Korea loses track of North's subs
South Korea's military is trying to find four North Korean submarines that have disappeared from tracking screens in the East Sea.
Tensions are running high on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang was blamed for sinking a South Korean warship.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency has quoted an unnamed military official as saying that four North Korean submarines have vanished from their screens.
The 300-tonne Sang-O class submarines are part of Pyongyang's 40-strong fleet.
They disappeared after leaving their base in the country's north-east two days ago.
The South Korean and United States militaries are preparing to hold anti-submarine drills near the site of the sinking of the Cheonan.
The 1,200-tonne corvette Cheonan sank in the Yellow Sea on March 26, leaving 40 sailors confirmed dead and six still unaccounted for.
It is believed to have been sunk by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine.
abc.au
