N. Korea moves to cut all ties with S. Korea

May 26, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times

BEIJING

A defiant North Korea said late Tuesday it would sever all ties with South Korea, cut off communications and expel workers from a jointly run industrial park in a bellicose response to the South’s efforts to seek redress for the sinking of one of its ships.

Although South Korea has said it will not retaliate with force, instead seeking sanctions before the U.N. Security Council, Pyongyang earlier in the day accused Seoul of making a “deliberate provocation aimed to spark off another military conflict.”

In Beijing, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States stood firmly behind South Korea and urged China to join in condemning North Korea’s behavior, as Beijing did last year when the North tested a nuclear weapon.

“We expect to be working together with China in responding to North Korea’s provocative action and promoting stability in the region,” said Clinton at the conclusion of two days of talks with Chinese officials that were supposed to concentrate on economics but ended up being overshadowed by the Korean crisis.

Clinton flies today to Seoul for meetings with Japanese and South Korean officials. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also is headed to Seoul to meet Friday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

After Clinton’s meetings with the Chinese, U.S. officials could claim no progress in persuading Beijing to support U.N. deliberations on North Korea’s alleged attack but said talks at least would continue.

Philip J. Crowley, the chief State Department spokesman, said North Korea’s decision to sever ties with the South was “odd,” given the potential benefits to the impoverished state of stronger ties to their wealthier neighbor.

The South Korean naval vessel Cheonan was on patrol in the Yellow Sea on March 26 when an explosion ripped apart the hull, killing 46 crew members. Investigators last week declared what already was widely believed in South Korea: that the sinking was the result of an attack by a North Korean torpedo.