Korea Times correspondent
TORONTO ― U.S. President Barack Obama criticized China, Sunday (local time), for turning a blind eye to North Korea's belligerent behavior, saying Beijing should recognize Pyongyang's torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy ship Cheonan in March.
In blunt comments at the end of the Group of 20 Summit here, Obama said that Chinese President Hu Jintao should recognize that North Korea crossed a line in that incident, in which 46 sailors died.
"I think there's a difference between restraint and willful blindness" by China to the North's military provocation, Obama said, answering questions from reporters.
"Now, I'm sympathetic to the fact that North Korea is on China's border. They have a security interest in not seeing complete chaos on the Korean Peninsula, or a collapse that could end up having a significant impact on them.
"If they adopted a posture of restraint, I understand their thinking. But my hope is that President Hu will recognize that this is an example of Pyongyang going over the line in ways that just have to be spoken about, seriously," he said.
The U.S. President indicated that he would link the Cheonan case to the resumption of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, saying, "We are not going to be able to have serious negotiations with the North Koreans" if China fails to deal resolutely with the incident.
He said the U.S. and other members of the six-party talks share a common interest in that they prefer the case to be resolved diplomatically.
"We'd like to see a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We'd like to see a North Korea that is a responsible member of the world community, which would be good for the people of North Korea," Obama said.
He went on to say that he wants the U.N. Security Council to produce a "crystal-clear acknowledgment" of the North's attack. The cooperation of China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council and North Korea's major international supporter, is crucial to that goal.
"It is absolutely critical that the international community rallies behind President Lee Myung-bak and sends a clear message to North Korea that that kind of behavior is unacceptable," Obama said.
Separately, new Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters that an earlier strong condemnation of the North over the weekend by the Group of Eight economies would "have a major bearing" on discussions at the United Nations. Kan said he encouraged Hu during their bilateral summit last week to join world leaders on the matter.
Meanwhile, President Lee held summit talks with President Hu in Toronto Sunday.
At the talks, Lee called for close cooperation between Seoul and Beijing in dealing with North Korea's military provocation, saying the international community should work together to prevent the reclusive country from threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, Cheong Wa Dae said.
Hu reaffirmed Beijing's stance that it disapproves of any act that disrupts peace on the peninsula, but stopped short of directly blaming North Korea for the Cheonan incident.
오바마, 천안함 관련 중국 비난
버락 오바마 미국 대통령은 현지시간 27일 캐나다 토론토에서 열린 G20 정상회의 폐막식에서 천안함 사건 관련 북한 개입을 중국이 인정해야 한다고 촉구했다.
오바마 대통령은 기자회견에서 "자제력을 발휘하는 것과 의도적으로 눈을 감는 것은 다르다"며 "이번 사건은 북한이 선을 넘은 것이라는 점을 후 진타오 주석이 인정하기를 바란다"고 밝혔다.
또 그는 UN 안전보장위원회가 천안함 관련 북한 개입을 "명백히 인정"해야 한다며 안보리 상임이사국 중국 협조의 필요성을 강조했다.
한편 이 날 이명박 대통령은 후진타오 주석과의 정상회담에서 북한이 한반도 평화와 안정에 위협이 되지 않도록 두 국가간 공조를 해야 한다고 당부했다.
이에 대해 후 주석은 한반도 평화를 위협하는 행위는 규탄한다고 했으나 북한의 천안함 사건 개입에 대해서는 자세히 언급하지 않았다.
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