by Bay Fang

It seemed like only yesterday that journalists watched the New York Philharmonic give a groundbreaking concert in Pyongyang, and wondered if this bit of cultural diplomacy signaled a thaw on the continent.

But in the last two days, North Korea has given at least an initial answer. Following an announcement Wednesday by the new South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, that his government would not expand economic cooperation with North Korea unless it cooperated in dismantling its nuclear weapons programs, Pyongyang ordered the expulsion of South Korean officials from a jointly-operated industrial zone in the North.

The next day, the regime test-fired a number of short-range guided missiles. The South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported that the three ship-to-ship missiles were launched around 10.30am.

Seoul played down the incident, saying the tests were routine. "I believe North Korea would also not want a strain in inter-Korean relations," said Presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.

President Lee's predecessors abided by a "Sunshine Policy" towards the North, offering billions of dollars of aid and incentives to keep Pyongyang at the negotiating table. The conservative Lee is more willing to join the US in applying pressure on the North for its nuclear activities.

Meanwhile, the US and North Korea are still at an impasse over Pyongyang's alleged uranium program and transfer of nuclear technology to Syria.

In a statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency, the government denied both allegations.

"The US side is playing a poor trick to brand (the North) as a criminal at any cost in order to save its face," the statement said.

"Should the US delay the settlement of the nuclear issue, persistently trying to cook up fictions, it will seriously affect the disabling of nuclear facilities."