north korea news

UN chief urges measures against North Korea in sinking of ship
The UN Security Council should adopt “measures appropriate” in response to North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean navy ship, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday in his strongest comments yet against Pyongyang.

Ban called the torpedoing of the Cheonan ship in March “unacceptable” and said evidence of Pyongyang’s involvement in the incident is “overwhelming and deeply troubling.

Ban called the torpedoing of the Cheonan ship in March ‘unacceptable’ and said evidence of Pyongyang’s involvement in the incident is ‘overwhelming and deeply troubling.’

Ban said he supports South Korean President Lee Mung Bak’s decision to bring the incident before the UN Security Council in New York.

He said Council members were to consult on what steps to take to counter Pyongyang’s attack on the navy ship that killed 46 South Korean sailors. 25″ height=”294″ />
North Korea may begin, he says, by seeing if South Korea will really ban North Korean ships from sailing through the straits between Jeju Island, off South Korea’s southern coast, and the southern tip of South Korea. The ban tacks on two or three additional days of travel to North Korean vessels making the long trip to and from ports on the North’s east and west coasts.

“Then they will try to cross the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea,” says Professor Kim, citing the danger of more skirmishes near where a North Korean submarine on March 26 fired a torpedo at the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan, sinking it and killing 46 of the 104 sailors on board, according to the findings of an international investigation.

President Lee, vowing that North Korea would “pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts,” said South Korea “from now on will not tolerate any provocative act by the North and will maintain the principle of proactive deterrence.”

The inference was that South Korea would intensify patrols, including anti-submarine exercises, in the Yellow Sea along the Northern Limit Line below which South Korea bans North Korean vessels.