Clinton: “Stop the provocations of the North” International community strives for peace

SEUL – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged North Korea to suspend “any provocation”. Speaking in Seoul, during a joint press conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan, the US diplomacy official added that the “international community has the responsibility to respond to the sinking of the South Korean corvette which was unacceptable provocation “.

Full support for South Korea. Hillary Clinton declared full American support in Seoul: “We will be next to you in this difficult time, as we will always be,” he said, accepting in bulk the recent results of the international investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan, which accuses Pyongyang. “The independent international investigation – he declared – was objective, its evidence is overwhelming, the conclusions inescapable”.

China must also press on Pyongyang. The US Secretary of State also urged China to convince North Korea to change its behavior and take “the path of prosperity, peace and respect”. And he explained that the crisis caused by the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan ” considering also that “there is the long-term challenge to favor the change of direction of North Korea”. Clinton believes that China will understand the seriousness of the crisis and hopes that it is “willing to listen to the concerns expressed by South Korea and the United States”. “We expect – he said – to work with China in defining a response”.

Pyongyang threatens to close borders. Meanwhile, from North Korea comes the threat to close access to an industrial complex located on the border with South Korea if Seoul resumes the spread of its propaganda. The news was given by the official North Korean agency Kcna. The North Korean army will prevent South Korean personnel and vehicles from entering the Kaesong industrial complex, financed by the South and located just north of the border, in the event of resumption of propaganda which, according to Pyongyang, reached its peak with the accusation to North Korea to have sunk the Cheonan corvette. Yesterday North Korea had already decided to break its relations with South Korea , threatening a “total war” in the event of new sanctions against Pyongyang.

(May 26, 2010)