Germany summons NKorea ambassador over attacks

Germany said Wednesday it had summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador after North Korea’s bombardment of a South Korean border island which killed two marines and two civilians.

“The foreign ministry has summoned the North Korean ambassador and expressed the clear position of the federal government at a high diplomatic level,” foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told a regular briefing here.

Later Wednesday, Steffen Seibert, spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said she had telephoned South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and condemned the deadly shelling “in the strongest possible terms.”

Merkel praised Lee for his restraint and promised him Germany’s support, in particular with regard to a potential response from the United Nations Security Council, which Berlin will be joining next year for a two-year stint.

“The chancellor also called on those with influence on North Korea to use it to contribute to a stabilisation of the situation by dissuading North Korea from further provocation,” Seibert added in a veiled reference to China.

In an earlier briefing, Seibert told reporters that “North Korea is endangering peace in the region with these attacks.”