Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) – Tensions are once again on the rise between Pyongyang and Seoul, after weeks of relative detente and official meetings. The dispute was triggered by an accident in a dam on the North Korean border, which caused the deaths of six people in the South. Washington meanwhile has decided to freeze the assets of two companies in the north, suspected of supporting Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
This morning South Korean Minister for Unification, Hyun In-taek, said, without going into details, that the North may have "intentionally" released water (about 40 million tons) from the Hwanggang dam on the border with the South, causing the deaths of six people suddenly overwhelmed by the arrival of the wall of water, who were camped near the Imjin river, in the demilitarized zone in South Korean territory.
At first, the South Korean government had left all possibilities open, waiting for Pyongyang to offer an explanation of the accident. Yesterday they reversed their attitude towards the North Korean government, from a position of "prudence" to that of "intransigence”.
South Korean policy experts explain that the u-turn may be linked to issues of "internal politics". The incident, in fact, has created outrage and anger in the south and several newspapers have criticized Seoul’s "soft" approach; to calm the public, the government of the conservative Lee Myung-bak has thus called for "comprehensive explanation" and "official apology."
Meanwhile, the United States has decided to freeze the assets of two companies of North Korea - The General Bureau of Atomic Energy and Korea Tangun Trading Corp - suspected of supporting Pyongyang's nuclear program. The regime has announced in recent days that it is entering the last phase of the program to enrich uranium, needed for making nuclear weapons.
A U.S. official, on condition of anonymity, stressed that the sanctions are a signal sent by Washington to "exert pressure" on Pyongyang to reopen Six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions.