by Theresa Kim Hwa-young

President Lee Myung-bak orders "resolute and systematic" countermeasures towards Pyongyang. Together with the United States, the government could raise the alert to level 2, which means "vital threat" to the nation. South Korea blocks food and aid to the North cancelled the delivery of one million vaccines against hepatitis.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - The South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has ordered "resolute and systematic" countermeasures towards Pyongyang. During the emergency meeting of the National Security Council, Lee said that the attack on the gunboat Cheonan violates the UN armistice of 1953 that ended the Korean War. Meanwhile, Seoul has blocked aid to the North, cutting the supply of medicines, food and basic necessities.

Today, South Korean President Lee presided over a meeting of National Security Council (NSC), and relations are becoming increasingly strained relations between the two nations of East Asia. The Head of State called for a cautious approach to an issue that he defines "serious and grave." The president, said his spokesman, spoke of "surprise military attack from North Korea (that came) while South Korean people were resting late at night”.  It represents a "violation of the U.N. Charter, the armistice agreement, and the South-North Basic Agreement ", not to invade each other and to work together towards reconciliation.

Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States are evaluating whether to raise the alert level towards Pyongyang. Defence Minister confirms "the monitoring of North Korean movements and a possible revision of the" Watchcon "based on intelligence information and expert analysis. South Korea is currently on Watchcon-3. Watchcon-2 would mean there are indications of "vital signs of threat."

The tensions between the two Koreas have led to the blocking of aid from South to North. On 14 May, the South Korean Ministry for Standardization cancelled a planned delivery to the Pyongyang regime of a million vaccines against hepatitis, intended for children and young North Koreans. It is just one of the cuts in aid decided by Seoul, which has removed from the budget all projects to support North Korea. The Department sent a notice to these private groups, stating that it could “not approve” the delivery of humanitarian aid items such as flour and bread.

The measures taken by President Lee Myung-bak to block aid to the North thus affect not only the government projects, but also involve cooperation, international NGOs and the private sector. The value of vaccines to the people of the north - reduced to starvation by decades of communist rule, under the dictatorship of the Kim family - is estimated at 340 million won (about 296 thousand dollars).

The halt in aid is confirmed by representatives of various organizations operating in North Korea. An official from World Vision reports a ministerial note ordering the suspension of "another 100 tons of flour," because "delivery will not be authorized." A senior representative of the Korean Sharing Movement reports that "the Unification Ministry has refused to allocate funds without providing explanations”.

• North
• Korea
• South
• Chenoan
• war
• communist
• regime
• aids
• economy