Seoul considers sending envoy to Beijing over Cheonan

By Lee Tae-hoon

Staff reporter

The government is considering sending a senior diplomat to China to persuade the ally of North Korea to support Seoul's call to punish Pyongyang for its alleged torpedo attack against a South Korean warship in March, sources said Sunday.

The move comes amid growing doubts about the effectiveness of Seoul's referring the sinking of its 1,200-ton frigate Cheonan to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Friday as veto-wielding China appears to be opposed to a coordinated global action against its impoverished neighbor.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan even admitted last week that China considers the Cheonan incident a domestic issue that needs to be resolved by the two Koreas and the nature of the maritime disaster makes it difficult for Seoul to convince the international community to take action.

As the government fears its pledge to get even with the North over the incident may become empty rhetoric, it is considering dispatching a senior envoy to Beijing to convince Chinese officials on the need for the UNSC to draw up punitive measures against the North's terrorist act.

"South Korea is mulling sending a ranking official to directly talk to concerned officials, on top of indirectly persuading China on the matter in the process of UNSC meetings," a diplomatic source told Yonhap News Agency.

Another official also said that "if necessary, Seoul may send officials to Beijing to directly persuade China."

Once such a decision is made, a deputy minister-level diplomat will likely be picked for the mission, according to sources.

Seoul is also considering sending experts, who carried out the investigation into the cause of the ship sinking, to the United Nations headquarters in New York, so that they can brief UNSC members on their findings.

"The government may send the experts to persuade UNSC member countries," a government official said on condition of anonymity. "However, South Korea will provide them only when UNSC members make such a request, as we cannot send them without receiving their consent."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Unification has asked South Korean companies trading with North Korean firms not to wire money to the communist country in an effort to curb the foreign currency flow into the reclusive regime.

"The government has requested Korean firms working with North Korean companies to postpone payments until the government decides on its position over the Cheonan incident," a ministry official said.

Seoul is expected to determine the fate of the inter-Korean industrial park in the border town of North Korea "at some point," depending on the communist regime's attitude toward the troubled facilities.

"There will be a judgment at some point on whether the Gaeseong Industrial Complex can be maintained or not," another ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

천안함 관련 중국에 고위급 인사 파견 검토

정부는 천안함 사태와 관련 중국의 협조를 이끌어내기 위해 차관급 인사 파견을 검토 중인 것으로 알려졌다.

한 외교 소식통은 "정부로서는 국제사회의 단호하고 일치된 대북 대응조치를 이끌어내기 위해 다각도의 노력을 기울일 방침"이라며 "중국에 대해서도 유엔 안보리 논의과정을 통한 간접 설득 외에 고위당국자의 방문을 통한 직접 설득도 검토하고 있다"고 밝혔다

이는 정부가 중국의 협조 없이는 대북제제 관련 유엔 안전보장이사회의 지지를 받을 수 없기 때문으로 풀이된다.

또한 정부는 천안함 사건을 조사한 민군 합동조사단 관계자를 보내 직접 유엔 안보리에게 조사결과를 발표하는 방안도 검토 중인 것으로 알려졌다.

한편 통일부는 개성공단 문제와 관련 대북 교역업체들에게 대북 물품대금 지급을 보류하라고 요청했다.

통일부 당국자는 "해결의 단초는 북한이 풀어야 한다"며 “북한의 조치 강도에 따라 한국 정부의 대응도 달라질것”임을 시사했다.