Obama Imposes Sanctions on NK Firms

USFK Commander Warns Pyongyang of Provocative Acts

By Jung Sung-ki, Michael Ha

Staff Reporters

The top U.S. military commander in South Korea urged North Korea Wednesday to stop taking provocative moves and vowed a seamless combined defense posture against any attack from the North.

In a separate move, the U.S. government approved new sanctions against seven foreign firms, including three North Korean companies, for violating U.S. law aimed at stopping the spread of missiles and other technologies behind weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The measure was announced in the U.S. Federal Register Monday.

Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), said at a security forum in Seoul that Pyongyang should stop its missile exercises and moves to proliferate its nuclear weapons technology.

Sharp's remarks came amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North's provocative statements and military moves in recent weeks. News reports said Tuesday that a U.S. military satellite had recently spotted a train carrying a long cylindrical object believed to be a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile heading toward a missile launch site in North Korea.