|
(LEAD) Lee says Seoul ready to invoke self-defense against N.K. provocation
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, May 24 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak warned Monday that South Korea will be ready to immediately exercise its right of self-defense in the event of any additional armed provocation by North Korea. which was accused of attacking one of its warships in March.
In a live public address, Lee said Seoul will ditch all inter-Korean trade and exchanges except for the joint industrial park in Kaesong as the first punitive step for the communist neighbor.
Lee started the 10-minute speech by defining the sinking as a result of "North Korea's military provocation" against South Korea, which has put the Korean Peninsula at a "critical turning point."
"From now on, the Republic of Korea will not tolerate any provocative act by the North and will maintain a principle of proactive deterrence," the president said in a resolute tone during the address made at the War Memorial of Korea in central Seoul. "If our territorial waters, airspace or territory are militarily violated, we will immediately exercise our right of self-defense."
The president's speech came after a team of multinational investigators last week concluded that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the 1,200-ton warship, the Cheonan, on March 26 in waters just below Koreas' western sea border, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
Lee announced his government will suspend all trade and exchange programs with the North except for the Kaesong project, while maintaining minimum levels of humanitarian aid for infants and children living in the impoverished communist country.
"Under these circumstances, any inter-Korean trade or other cooperative activity is meaningless," the president said, adding that North Korean ships will no longer be allowed to use South Korean waterways as short-cuts.
"I solemnly urge North Korean authorities to do the following: Apologize immediately to the Republic of Korea and the international community. Immediately punish those who are responsible for and those who are involved in the incident," he added, using South Korea's official name.
Lee stressed North Korea will "pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts" but he proclaimed a prudent approach towards the fate of the Kaesong industrial zone where more than 100 South Korean manufacturing firms operate and about 1,000 South Korean workers stay.
"Matters pertaining to the Kaesong Industrial Complex will be duly considered, taking its unique characteristics into consideration," he said.
Lee made clear Seoul's plan to take the ship sinking case to the U.N. Security Council for international penalties and urged North Korea to change its course.
"It is now time for the North Korean regime to change," he said. Some media here expected the president to blame North Korean leader Kim Jong-il by name but he did not do so.
Presidential aides said the words "North Korean regime" refer to Kim, his son reportedly named to succeed his power, and the North's military leadership.
They added that South Korea will continue to review how to deal with the Kaesong industrial zone.
"We will scale down the operation (of Kaesong park) first and think about the second step depending on the change of situation," Lee Dong-kwan, senior secretary for public affairs at Cheong Wa Dae, told reporters.
As for the venue for the speech, the president deliberately picked the War Memorial which commemorates the 1950-53 Korean War and other wars on the Korean Peninsula, the secretary said, adding that the headquarters of the 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, southwest of Seoul, was also considered.
The choice of the venue includes "President Lee's will for peace and his resolve not to let go of a string of hope for the future of the Korean Peninsula," he added.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
|
Home
