China Borders North Korea

On the Chinese side of the border, a convoy of seven North Korean flatbed trucks, sagging under their load of several tons of Chinese rice, rumbled under an ornamental gate on their way across the Tumen River to North Korea. Half a mile or so across the shallow, snow-fed river on a recent afternoon here, a North Korean steam engine whistled impatiently as it waited to receive the vital cargo and transport it to the hungry interior.

On the Chinese side of the border, a convoy of seven North Korean flatbed trucks, sagging under their load of several tons of Chinese rice, rumbled under an ornamental gate on their way across the Tumen River to North Korea. Half a mile or so across the shallow, snow-fed river on a recent afternoon here, a North Korean steam engine whistled impatiently as it waited to receive the vital cargo and transport it to the hungry interior.

A defiant North Korea said late Tuesday that it would sever all ties with South Korea, cut off communications and expel workers from a jointly run industrial park in a bellicose response to the South's efforts to seek redress for the sinking of one of its ships. Although South Korea has said it will not retaliate with force, instead seeking sanctions before the U.N. Security Council, Pyongyang earlier in the day accused Seoul of making a "deliberate provocation aimed to spark off another military conflict."