President Lee Myung-bak is to announce South Korea's response on Monday morning to the sinking by North Korea of the Navy corvette Cheonan. Presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said the response will include both independent action and international cooperation, such as asking the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions against the Stalinist country.
| I thought the sanctions were already tight ... |
The president is expected to ask the North to apologize and warn of a stronger response if Pyongyang should launch further provocations.
A senior presidential official said that could include "punitive military measures."
For the moment Seoul's hands are effectively tied as some 1,000 South Korean staff remain at the joint-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North.
| That would be the first thing I'd fix. |
After the president's address, the foreign, unification and defense ministers will hold a press conference at the Central Government Complex, where they are expected to announce specific steps by the government.
The steps may include UNSC sanctions; increased military alert and joint South Korea-U.S. defense preparedness; South Korea-U.S. anti-submarine exercises in the West Sea; a halt to all inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, except for the Kaesong industrial park; and a ban on North Korean ships passing through the Jeju Strait. |