South Korea, the United States and Japan Monday reconfirmed their pledge not to engage in dialogue with North Korea unless Pyongyang stops provocations and shows its commitment to denuclearization, urging China to use its influence on North Korea.
"North Korea first needs to take concrete steps to demonstrate a change of behavior," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters after a trilateral meeting with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts Kim Sung-hwan and Seiji Maehara. "They need to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose in ending their provocations and let the world know that they are now ready to come to the table and fulfill the commitments that they have already made, because the six-party talks cannot substitute for specific actions by North Korea to comply with all of its obligations."
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C), South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan (R) and Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara attend a press conference after a trilateral meeting at the Department of State in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, Dec. 6, 2010. (Xinhua-Yonhap News0 |
Prior to the meeting at the State Department, Clinton asked for "a moment of silence for the victims of shelling in South Korea," referring to the North's artillery barrage last month on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island on the western sea border. Four people died, including two marines, and dozens of others were injured in the first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
China has called on the parties concerned to remain calm, show restraint and deal with the tensions through an emergency meeting of chief envoys to the six-party talks on the North's denuclearization.
In a phone call with U.S. President Barack Obama Sunday, Chinese President Hu Jintao called for a "cool and rational"
response, and "dialogue" among relevant parties, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement. Russia, another party to the multilateral nuclear talks, has joined China in calling for the emergency meeting of chief nuclear envoys.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kim echoed Clinton's theme.
"We also reaffirmed that in order for the heads of delegations of the six-party talks to get together, the appropriate circumstances must be put in place first, such as North Korea's demonstration of its sincerity toward denuclearization, with action," Kim said.
The chief South Korean diplomat thanked China's role as the chair of the six-party talks.
"However, we would like China to have a more clear stance in giving warning to North Korea and to contain these provocative actions by North Korea, because these provocations are not at all helping the security of the region and the peninsula, so we would like China to play a more important role," he said.
Clinton agreed. "We look forward to China playing a vital role in regional diplomacy," she said. "They have a unique relationship with North Korea, and we would hope that China would work with us to send a clear, unmistakable message to North Korea that they have to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose in ending their provocative actions, and there are many ways that they can do that."
In the phone call, Obama also urged China to help rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons programs and belligerence.
Obama "urged China to work with us and others to send a clear message to North Korea that its provocations are unacceptable,"
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "The president condemned the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island on Nov. 23 and its pursuit of a uranium enrichment program in defiance of its obligations."
North Korea early last month revealed a uranium enrichment program at its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, spawning concerns that it will serve as another way of making nuclear bombs. North Korea already has a plutonium-based nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang says it intends to produce low-grade uranium to fuel a light-water reactor for electricity.
In a show of deterrence against North Korea, South Korea and the U.S. conducted joint military drills in the Yellow Sea last week with the participation of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington.
China has raised objections to such exercises off its coast.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meanwhile, will fly to Seoul later in the day to meet with South Korea's new defense minister, Kim Kwan-jin, and other military officials to "reaffirm and reassure the South Koreans about our commitment to the alliance," the Pentagon said.
China's Hu expressed concerns to Obama that North Korea may become uncontrollable.
Kim Kwan-jin's predecessor, Kim Tae-young, was sacked last week amid mounting criticism of the South Korean military's "weak" response to the North's shelling of Yeonpyeong.
South Korea last week revised the rules of engagement to allow use of air and naval forces to counter any further provocations from the North.
Clinton said Mullen is visiting Seoul and Tokyo to "enhance coordination on strategic deterrents," adding she "will be sending a high-level team to Asia to follow up on today's meeting."
Speaking to reporters aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the North's recent provocations are designed to show that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Jong-un, is "tough and strong enough to take leadership. I think this is a difficult and potentially dangerous time."
The International Criminal Court, meanwhile, said it has begun probing the North's shelling and the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors in the Yellow Sea in March. Pyongyang denies involvement.
The ICC "has opened a preliminary examination to evaluate if some incidents constitute war crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court," including the shelling and the Cheonan's sinking, upon receiving "communications alleging that North Korean forces committed war crimes in the territory of the Republic of Korea (South Korea)," the Hague-based court said in a statement.
Clinton, meanwhile, lauded the conclusion of talks last week for the ratification of a free trade deal with South Korea pending for more than three years, as Seoul allowed a delayed phaseout of auto tariffs, among other issues, in return for Washington's concessions on pork and medicine.
"The Republic of Korea and the United States completed negotiations on a landmark Korea-U.S. free-trade agreement that will further strengthen the bonds between our two countries," she said. (Yonhap News)
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