Property Confiscated By North Korea
Posted on 25 May 2010 by LynThomas in Uncategorized
The United States has confirmed it will hold naval exercises with South Korea, after the reported sinking of a South Korea warship, by North Korea.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak earlier froze trade with Pyongyang, vowing to punish those who carried out the attack.
South Korea has said it will refer North Korea to the UN Security Council, in response to the sinking of the Cheonan. Fifty-eight crew survived, but 46 sailors died when the ship went down close to the sea border between North and South Korea.
North Korea has said it will retaliate for any action taken against it. Pyongyang denies any involvement in the sinking, calling the investigation a “fabrication” and threatening war if sanctions were imposed.
Experts from the US, the UK, Australia and Sweden said that a torpedo had hit the Cheonan. They reported that parts of the torpedo retrieved from the sea floor had lettering that matched a North Korean design.
President Lee said in a televised address that Seoul would no longer tolerate “Any provocative act by the North and will maintain a principle of proactive deterrence”.
Seoul says the measures it is taking are as tough a response as the South could take short of military action.
At the centre of the dispute are five properties, just over the North South border, that were developed by a South Korean firm. Pyongyang’s statement on Friday made a clear link between the property seizure and what it perceives to be South Korean claims that it was behind the sinking of the Cheonan warship last month.
The confiscated properties include a fire station, duty free shop and a Red Cross built centre to host family reunions, plus the resort, which was a lucrative source of income for North Korea.
A North Korean tourism official said the properties were being confiscated “In compensation for the damage the North side suffered due to the suspension of the tour for a long period”. All remaining assets will also be frozen and South Korean personnel expelled from the resort.
South Korea suspended its tours to the resort after a South Korean woman was killed in July 2008.
The official said the properties would be returned to state possession or “handed over to new businessmen according to legal procedures”.
The attack on the South Korean warship is not the first incident laid at the door of North Korea:
- Jan 1967 – South Korean warship attacked near border, 39 sailors killed
- Jan 1968 – presidential palace in Seoul stormed, 71 killed
- Oct 1983 – Rangoon hotel used by South Korean president bombed, 21 killed
- Nov 1987 – South Korean airliner bombed, 115 killed
- Mar 2010 – Cheonan warship attacked, 46 sailors killed.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] After the reported sinking of a South Korea warship, by North Korea, the U.S. has confirmed it will hold naval exercises with South Korea. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak earlier froze trade with Pyongyang, vowing to punish those who carried out the attack. Read how North Korea has confiscated five properties built by a South Korean firm… [...]