South Korea Halts Trading With North

South Korea is making it clear that it’s not going to be bullied by its Stalinist neighbor: After North Korea admitted to sinking a 1,200-ton Cheonan warship, killing 46 sailors in March, South Korea is seeking retribution. "Fellow citizens, we have always tolerated North Korea's brutality, time and again. We did so because we have always had a genuine longing for peace on the Korean Peninsula," President Lee Myung-bak said. "But now things are different. North Korea will pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts." Most significantly, Myung-bak announced that South Korea is halting all trade with the north—adding that "no North Korean ship will be allowed to make passage through any of the shipping lanes in the waters under our control" and that "any inter-Korean trade or other cooperative activity is meaningless." The U.S. State Department has announced that it’s supporting the south in its efforts.