S Korea vows to stick to stern North policy

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SEOUL, June 14 (AFP): South Korea Monday vowed a stern response to North Korea's alleged sinking of a warship despite new threats from the North, as the two sides prepared to make their case to the United Nations.
President Lee Myung-Bak, in his first public speech since his party's defeat in June 2 local elections, said his government could make political concessions to rebuild its standing but none on security.
"Provocations for a second or third Cheonan could happen any time if we, together with the international community, do not sternly deal with North Korean wrongdoing and firmly prepare for security," he said.
The South announced its own reprisals including suspending most trade after a multinational investigation team concluded last month that a North Korean torpedo sank the Cheonan on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives.
It has installed loudspeakers along the tense border in preparation for a possible resumption of propaganda broadcasts.
North Korea Saturday threatened to shell the speakers and said it could turn Seoul "into a sea of flame", in what it termed a crucial declaration repeated on its official news agency Monday.