【英语国际】朝鲜宣布断绝与韩国一切关系

North Korea yesterday severed all ties with South Korea, hitting back at Seoul, which has reduced cross-border trade to punish Pyongyang for sinking a warship in March.

Mounting tensions on the peninsula are hitting the currency and stock markets of Asia's fourth-biggest economy, with reports that Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator, had put his million-man army at battle stations.

Seoul has accused Mr Kim of ordering a submarine to torpedo a South Korean warship on March 26, killing 46 sailors. North Korea denies the charge.

Seoul's benchmark Kospi index of leading shares fell 2.8 per cent to a 15-week low. South Korea's won fell 3 per cent to 1,250.10 against the dollar, its lowest since July 2009.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported that Pyongyang would expel South Korean workers from the Kaesong industrial park.

South Korea said on Monday it was cutting all trade apart from Kaesong, which accounts for more than half of cross-border commerce. Seoul had wanted to keep this open as the lone commercial and diplomatic contact between the two Koreas.

Many conservative South Koreans had seen Kaesong as a useful destabilising influence, through which the South could undermine communist ideology.

North Korea's ban on all ties could also bar South Korean aircraft from North Korean airspace, adding fuel cost and time to many international flights.

The announcement came after bellicose North Korean rhetoric earlier in the day, which threatened military action against South Korea for violating a disputed maritime border.

朝鲜昨日断绝了与韩国的一切关系，回击首尔方面的制裁。此前首尔方面缩减了韩朝跨境贸易，以惩罚平壤方面在3月击沉一艘韩国军舰。

朝鲜半岛日益紧张的局势正在冲击亚洲第四大经济体的汇市和股市。有报道称，朝鲜独裁者金正日(Kim Jong-il)已下令该国百万大军进入战备状态。

首尔方面指控金正日命令朝鲜潜艇在3月26日用鱼雷击沉韩国一艘军舰，致46名水兵丧生。朝鲜否认了这一指控。

代表大盘股的首尔Kospi基准指数下跌2.8%，至15周低点。韩元兑美元下跌3%，至1美元兑1250.10韩元，为2009年7月以来的低点。

朝鲜官方的朝中社(KCNA)报道，平壤方面将驱逐开城工业园区的韩国工人。

韩国在本周一表示，将切断除开城外的全部韩朝贸易，双方经开城的贸易占韩朝跨境贸易的一半以上。首尔方面曾希望保持开城渠道的畅通，作为韩朝之间唯一的商业和外交联系。

许多韩国保守派人士曾把开城视为一个破坏稳定的有用影响因素，韩国通过它可以逐步削弱朝鲜的共产主义意识形态。

朝鲜断绝与韩国一切关系的禁令，可能还包括禁止韩国飞机飞越朝鲜领空，这将增加不少国际航班的燃油成本和飞行时间。

朝鲜发表上述声明之前，曾在昨日早些时候发表了好战言论，扬言要对韩国侵犯一条有争议的海上边界之举采取军事行动。

英国《金融时报》克里斯蒂安?奥利弗(Christian Oliver)、宋京雅(Song Jung-a)首尔、杰夫?代尔(Geoff Dyer)北京报道

译者/何黎