Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met with South Korea's president and other top officials, as efforts get underway to rally global support for measures against North Korea. Western investigators accuse the North of a deadly naval attack.
Secretary of State Clinton took a positive approach Wednesday toward what many view as an uphill battle in convincing China to help punish North Korea. "I believe that the Chinese understand the seriousness of this issue and are willing to listen to the concerns expressed by both South Korea and the United States," she said.

A multinational investigative team concluded last week a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine was responsible for sinking a South Korean patrol ship in March, killing 46 sailors. Clinton expressed what she called "greatest admiration" for South Korea's restraint in avoiding an emotional response. She says the thorough and scientific probe it conducted should be helpful in persuading China.
"We hope that China will take us up on our offer to really understand the details of what happened and the objectivity of the investigation that led to the conclusions," Mrs. Clinton stated.

China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, where South Korea intends to call for new international sanctions against Pyongyang. It has been a historical lifeline of food and fuel to impoverished North Korea, but -- on a more practical level -- is reluctant to do anything that might destabilize the country and create a security threat right next door.

In a joint news conference with Clinton, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said he too believes the investigation report will bring even hesitant nations around.

He says it may take time in the case of China and Russia, but that they cannot deny the facts forever.

Beyond punishing the North for unacceptable behavior, Secretary Clinton called upon the international community to get North Korea to change course. "There's a different path for North Korea. And, we believe it's in everyone's interest, including China, to make a persuasive case for North Korea to change direction," she said. "They need to look internally toward what they can do to improve the standing of their own people and provide for a different future."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Friday.

North Korea has begun to freeze ties with the South, which already halted most trade with Pyongyang in retaliation for the sinking of a South Korean warship. The North has denied responsibility for the attack on the vessel and is accusing the South of launching a "smear campaign" against it.
Pyongyang has expelled eight South Korean government officials from a joint factory park in the North. And, it is threatening to block what little cross-border traffic exists.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul says hundreds of South Korean managers and other workers from the South were allowed to enter the industrial complex in the west coast Kaesong border city, Wednesday.

But ministry spokesman Chun Hae Sung tells reporters North Korea quickly acted on other aspects of its threat to cut all communications ties with the South.

He says Pyongyang Wednesday halted contact between the Red Cross delegations in the truce village, Panmunjom, and the North Korean Navy contacted the South to inform it that all marine communications between the two Korea's are now cut.

Relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated steadily since the Cheonan, a South Korean naval vessel in the Yellow Sea, exploded a month ago, killing 46 crew members. An international investigation concluded last week that the coastal patrol warship was hit by a North Korean torpedo.

South Korea's defense ministry tells VOA News that plans to send tens of thousands of leaflets northward by ballon have been delayed because of wind conditions, but they could go aloft as early as Thursday. Officials say the leaflets are intended to inform North Koreans about the sinking of the South Korean naval vessel. The North views Southern pamphleteering as hostile propaganda.

South Korea's military is using loudspeakers along the border, silenced for six years, and re-instituting FM broadcasting to the North.

North Korea's state television newscaster announced such propaganda will not be tolerated.

The North Korean newscaster says it will open fire on the South Korean loudspeakers and destroy them.

Pyongyang says a resumption of the propaganda campaign will also compel it to totally shut down the Kaesong industrial complex, where more than 100 South Korean firms employ about 42,000 North Korean workers.

The two countries have no diplomatic relations and technically remain at war following a 1953 truce which ended the three-year Korean War.

The United States, which has 28,000 troops in South Korea, has hurriedly announced plans for several joint military exercises in the coming month. In the past, Pyongyang has strongly condemned U.S.-South Korean drills, claiming they are preparations for an invasion of the North.

South Korea's defense minister says a torpedo was the likely cause of an explosion that sank a warship near the tense border with North Korea last month.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told reporters Sunday that he believes a bubble jet effect caused by a heavy torpedo is the most likely cause of the disaster.

A bubble jet is a powerful shock wave and high-pressure gas bubble resulting from an explosive device detonating beneath a vessel.

Kim was also quoted by the French news agency as saying "various other possibilities are also under review."

Investigators say there is evidence that the 1,200-ton Cheonan patrol ship exploded because of a strong impact from the outside. Seoul has refrained from blaming Pyongyang for the incident until its experts carry out a thorough investigation. Pyongyang has denied any involvement.

South Korea raised the front section of the warship with a large crane Saturday.

A body was found inside the recovered section, bringing the official death toll to 40. Six sailors remain missing and are believed dead. The coast guard rescued 58 crew members from waters near the blast site.

There were 104 sailors on board the ship when it exploded and sank March 26 during a regular patrol in the waters near the disputed border with North Korea.

North Korea Saturday warned the United States and South Korea that it will employ "all means, including the nuclear deterrent" if they intrude into its territory. The state-run Korean Central News Agency quotes army chief Ri Yong-Ho as saying North Korea's armed forces are "fully ready to frustrate any provocation of the aggressors at a single blow."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday urged Pyongyang not to "engage in provocative actions," and said she hopes there is no "miscalculation" or action that could lead to conflict.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.