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S.Korea slams DPRK's moves to liquidate assets, nullify inter-Korean projects

Xinhua, March 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Korea on Thursday denounced the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its moves to liquidate South Korean assets and nullify all of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects.

Seoul's unification ministry said in a statement that Pyongyang's move was a provocative act, which can never be tolerated, as it came in response to legitimate sanctions by South Korea and the international community.

Strongly denouncing the moves, the ministry made it clear that such unilateral claims by Pyongyang can never be accepted.

The statement came after the DPRK declared its plan earlier in the day to liquidate all assets, owned by South Korean companies and relevant agencies but located in the DPRK territory, while making all of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects "null and void."

The DPRK acts were a response to South Korea's standalone sanctions on Pyongyang on Tuesday, including a ban on third-country vessels having docked at DPRK ports within 180 days from entering South Korean ports.

The Seoul measures were taken separately from new tougher sanctions on Pyongyang by UN Security Council on March 2, involving a restriction on all cargo heading to and from the DPRK and its exports of coal and mineral resources.

Seoul also closed down an once-jointly-run factory park in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong on Feb. 10, three days after Pyongyang launched a satellite on a rocket, which was condemned by outsiders as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology.

The DPRK started off a new year with a test of what it claimed was its first hydrogen bomb on Jan. 6, the fourth of its nuclear detonations.

The South Korean ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said that the UN Security Council resolution and Seoul's standalone sanctions, including the shutdown of the Kaesong industrial complex, were a legitimate measure in consideration of the DPRK's nuclear test and long-range missile development in defiance of repeater warnings.

The ministry added that Pyongyang should be totally held responsible for all consequences, warning that the DPRK should never inflict any damage on South Korean assets. Enditem