SEOUL, (Reuters) – South Korea accused the reclusive North yesterday of torpedoing one of its warships, heightening tensions in the region and drawing a warning from the United States that Pyongyang must face consequences.
Jittery South Korean financial markets and its currency fell as Seoul vowed to take “firm” measures against its neighbor. Pyongyang, furiously denying the charge, warned it was ready for war if fresh sanctions were imposed.
The United States, which has some 28,000 troops stationed in the South following the 1950-53 Korean War, said it stood ready to help South Korea defend itself against any further “acts of aggression.”
Amid international condemnation of North Korea, the impoverished country’s only major ally, China, said it would make its own assessment of the South Korean investigation.
Mindful of the tension on the Korean peninsula, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and spokesmen for the White House and the State Department chose their words carefully in their responses to the report.
“Clearly this was a serious provocation by North Korea and there will definitely be consequences because of what North Korea has done,” said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
Gates said the United States was consulting with South Korea, which would decide what action to take.
A report by investigators, including experts from the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden, concluded that a North Korean submarine had fired the torpedo that sank the Cheonan corvette in March, killing 46 sailors.
The escalating tension weighed on South Korean financial markets, already worried that investors jumpy about global financial concerns may pull out their money.
The South Korean won suffered its biggest daily fall against the dollar in 10 months. Stocks closed at their lowest level in almost three months.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the result of the South Korean investigation deeply troubling.
Envoys at the United Nations suggested the issue could come before the Security Council early next week if Seoul requested that the 15-nation body discuss it.
President Barack Obama’s administration was consulting with South Korea’s neighbors and the U.N. Security Council on what to do next, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
Japan said it would be difficult to resume nuclear disarmament talks between five regional powers and the North, and said Washington shared its view that such negotiations, aimed at aiding Pyongyang in return for a promise to drop its nuclear arms, were unthinkable.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu urged both sides on the divided Korean peninsula to exercise restraint.