S. Korea expresses 'regret' over N. Korea's threats

(ATTN: UPDATES with more of statement, background)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Monday expressed regret over North
Korea's announcement that it will take retaliatory steps beginning next week
against what Pyongyang called Seoul's confrontational policy toward its communist
neighbor.
"The government expresses serious regret over the North Korean announcement," Kim
Ho-nyoun, spokesman for the Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean affairs,
said in a statement.
North Korea announced earlier in the day that starting Dec. 1, it will suspend
tourism to its border city of Kaesong, shut border-crossings for economic
cooperation and trade, halt the inter-Korean rail service and decrease South
Korean manpower at the joint industrial complex at Kaesong.
The concrete measures are the first to be implemented by the North after it
threatened to intensify control of the border from that date.
The Koreas' once reconciliatory relations turned sour after South Korea's
conservative, pro-U.S. President Lee Myung-bak took office in late February and
vowed to link inter-Korean cooperation to progress in the North's
denuclearization. The North has stepped up accusations against Lee and urged him
to change his policy toward the communist neighbor.
"The North's behavior of restricting and halting economic cooperation, which is
meaningful to improving inter-Korean relations, constitutes a grave incident that
would practically reverse the relations," Kim said.
The South urged Pyongyang to withdraw the plans and come back to the dialogue
table to advance inter-Korean relations.
"The government will be firm with its position to develop inter-Korean relations,
and is calling on the North to come to dialogue with South Korea," the statement
said.
The government convened an emergency meeting of the chief of the state
intelligence agency and security-related ministers, including the ministers of
unification and defense, to discuss countermeasures.
Kim said the government will take necessary measures to ensure the safety of
South Koreas residing in the North, but he did not elaborate.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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