North Korea cuts key communications links with S Korea: Ministry

SEOUL: North Korea on Wednesday cut off key communications links with South Korea after vowing to sever all ties in protest at claims that it had sunk a Seoul warship, officials said.

The North told the South early today it had shut down communications lines between their Red Cross authorities and also lines connecting maritime officials of the two sides, Seoul's unification ministry said.

It has not so far cut military communication lines which are necessary for the operation of a Seoul-funded industrial site at Kaesong just north of the border, the ministry said.

The North's state Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea announced late yesterday that all ties are being severed.

It said South Korea's claims that it had sunk the Seoul warship were tantamount to a declaration of war.

A Seoul-led international investigation announced last week that a North Korean submarine sank the South Korean corvette on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives.