SEOUL: The Republic of Korea's (ROK) President Lee Myung-bak yesterday urged local media not to overreact to military movements by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), noting there has been no unusual situation since last week's naval clash between the two sides.

Lee made the remark in a weekly meeting with his top presidential secretaries, according to the country's Yonhap News Agency.

Shipping trade unaffected

Meanwhile, a DPRK cargo ship arrived in an ROK port yesterday, showing that trade between the rival countries is continuing despite their bloody naval skirmish last week.

The ship was scheduled to unload 1,750 tons of silica at Incheon Port, west of Seoul, following its departure from the DPRK last Thursday, two days after the neighboring countries clashed along their disputed western sea border.

Lee said unnecessary fears are raising among the public due to the "exaggerated" reports by local media on inter-Korean tension, although there are no unusual movements by the DPRK's military in waters where the naval clash broke out last Tuesday.

The president stressed that officials should accurately explain the situation to the media and ask for their cooperation to prevent unnecessary unrest among the people.

The ROK and the DPRK's naval boats exchanged fire off west coast of the Korean Peninsula near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) area Tuesday morning, but no casualties were reported. The two sides blamed each other for the clash.

The NLL was fixed unilaterally by the US-led UN Command after the Korean War (1950- 1953). Seoul holds the NLL as the de-facto western inter-Korean maritime border, but Pyongyang does not accept it, and declared its maritime military control zone off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula in September 1999.

Since the clash, local media reports have poured on situation in the disputed waters and possible retaliatory moves by the DPRK side.

US withdrawal sought

The DPRK has called on the United States to pull its troops out of South Korea as early as possible, the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun said yesterday.

The report said the US-led "UN Command" was unjust, and it would only increase the "threat to peace and security" on the Korean Peninsula and the "danger of war."

H1N1 case at border

An official says that an ROK worker at a joint factory park in the DPRK has tested positive for H1N1 flu.

Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said yesterday that it was the first case of H1N1 flu at the complex in the border city of Kaesong.

She said a 32-year-old worker was brought back to the ROK after displaying a high fever and other flu-related symptoms over the weekend.

The Health Ministry says that 64 ROK citizens have died of swine flu-related causes. Lee says the DPRK has said it is free of H1N1 flu.

The factory park is a key symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. About 110 ROK factories there employ some 40,000 DPRK workers. It opened in 2004.

Xinhua-AP

(China Daily 11/17/2009 page11)