Park vows more action on N. Korea after rocket launch
SEOUL: South Korean President Park Geun-hye pledged yesterday further“strong”measuresagainst North Korea, after suspending operations at a joint ly run industrial park as punishment for the North’s recent long-range rocket launch and nuclear test.
North Korea’s recent actions, and threats to conduct more “extreme acts of provocation”, demonstrate that it has no interest in peace, Park said in a speech to parliament.
“The suspension of the Kaesong industrial zone is only the start of a series of actions we will be taking together with the international community,” she said.
“The government will take strong and effective measures for the North to come to the bone-numbing realisation that nuclear development will not help its survival but rather it will only speed up the collapse of the regime,” she said.
South Kor e a su spended the operation of the Kaesong industrial zone last week, which had been run jointly with the
The suspension of the Kaesong industrial zone is only the start of a series of actions we will be taking together with the international community.
Park Geun-hye, South Korean president
North for more than a decade and was a key source of hard currency for the impoverished North, as punishment for Pyongyang’s rocket launch on Feb. 7.
Seoul and the United States said the launch was in fact a test of a long-range missile that violated UN Security Council resolutions. The North said the launch was part of its scientific programme designed to launch satellites into space.
Washington and Seoul are seeking support from Beijing, Pyongyang’smainally,fortougher sanctions against North Korea for the rocket launch and January’s nuclear test.
South Korea is on heightened alert for any kind of “extreme actions” Pyongyang might take, Park said, asking for bipartisan support. She also warned against using the increased tension for political purposes, “which would be exactly what the North would want to see”. — Reuters
Australia to ask China if others will get access to reclaimed South China Sea islands
TOKYO: Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said yesterdayshewillseekclarification from China about how it intends to use reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, including whether Beijing intends to grant access to other countries.
China claims much of the South China Sea, through which more than 5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.
“In the past (Chinese) Foreign MinisterWangYihassaidtheywill be public goods, so I am seeking more detail as to how other nations could access these public goods,” Bishop said of the islands.
“Depending upon the answer he gives, we will look at the situation,” she told reporters in Tokyo, where she met Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
Bishop, who will fly to Beijing later yesterday for talks with Wang and other Chinese officials, would not say whether Australia would seek access to the islands.
Beijing has asserted its claim in the region with island building projects that have reclaimed more than 2,900 acres (1,170 hectares) of land since 2013, according to the Pentagon. — Reuters