South Korea not to tolerate North Korea's provocation

Seoul, May 24 : South Korea 'will not tolerate any provocative act' and will take self-defence measures in case of further military provocation by North Korea, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Monday.

"North Korea will pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts. I will continue to take stern measures to hold the North accountable," Lee said.

"From now on, the Republic of Korea will not tolerate any provocative act by the North and will maintain the principle of proactive deterrence. If our territorial waters, airspace or territory are violated, we will immediately exercise our right of self-defence," Lee was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The president was addressing South Korean citizens in a nationally-televised speech, a few days after an international team of experts said South Korea's 1,200-tonne vessel "Cheonan" was torpedoed by North Korea.

The "Cheonan", which had 104 crew members on board went down March 26 near the South Korean island of Baekryeongdo after an explosion, killing 46 sailors.

Lee said North Korea-flagged ships will no longer be allowed to pass through through any of the shipping lanes in South Korean waters, which was previously permitted under the Inter-Korean Agreement on Maritime Transportation.

He said cooperation with North Korea was "meaningless", and Seoul would also put trade and exchanges between the two countries on hold.

South Korea will, however, continue its humanitarian aid to North Korea, Lee said.

Condemning North Korea for violating the UN Charter and the Korean War Armistice Agreement, Lee said his government will refer the incident to the UN Security Council.

"Apologise immediately to the Republic of Korea and the international community. Immediately punish those who are responsible for and those who were involved in the incident. These are basic measures that the North has to take before anything else," Lee said.