Seoul, South Korea: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for a half-day visit to discuss rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the sinking of a South Korean warship was blamed on North Korea.
Talks on joint strategies to handle the crisis and Washington's reaffirmation of its support for Seoul were expected to be central to Hillary's meetings with her South Korean counterpart, Yu Myung Hwan, and President Lee Myung Bak.
Seoul accused Pyongyang of being responsible for the March 26 sinking of the corvette Cheonan and the ensuing deaths of 46 South Korean sailors. Pyongyang denied the charge despite evidence of a North Korean torpedo's involvement in the sinking.
South Korea said it intends to take the sinking before the UN Security Council, and on Monday, it cut off trade with North Korea while Pyongyang late on Tuesday announced it would cut all ties with South Korea and threatened retaliation in case of punitive measures or sanctions.
Meanwhile, North Korea ordered eight South Korean officials to leave their jointly operated industrial park in the border city of Kaesong. About 800 South Koreans work at the complex, where Southern companies employ more than 42,000 North Koreans, bringing in desperately needed foreign currency.
The North's Korean People's Army threatened to block access to Kaesong should the South restart propaganda announcements with loudspeakers at the border, as previously announced.
During her two-day visit to Beijing this week, Clinton tried to persuade the Chinese leadership to pursue joint diplomatic action against Pyongyang. Beijing, the Stalinist state's only major diplomatic ally, seemed reluctant.
US President Barack Obama has expressed full support for South Korea's handling of the crisis. South Korean and US troops are set to conduct joint naval manoeuvres and anti-submarine drills.
North and South Korea remain technically at war after a ceasefire and not a peace treaty ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
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