By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea and the United States have agreed to focus on exerting pressure on North Korea to send a clear message to the totalitarian regime that it will gain nothing from its nuclear and missile development programs, an official said Thursday.
The two nations reached the understanding during talks between deputy chief of South Korea’s presidential office of national security Cho Tae-yong and Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
The meeting took place in Washington, D.C., to discuss strategies for coping with the North and its recent provocative actions ― mainly the fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and the launch of a long-range rocket on Feb. 7.
“The two countries have so far pursued a two-pillar approach of pressure and dialogue to deal with the North, but we agreed to put more focus on the pressure side,” a government official told South Korean correspondents in Washington on the condition of anonymity following the meeting between Cho and Blinken.
“Our purpose is to send a clear message to the North that it has nothing to gain if it sticks to its present policy.”
The South Korean government turned down a proposal made on Thursday by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to push for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a truce-to-peace mechanism at the same time, saying, “Now is not the time for conversation.”
Seoul and Washington also agreed to do their utmost to produce a resolution at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) that contains stronger and more effective sanctions against the isolated state.
“There is a great possibility that a stronger resolution will be adopted this time,” the official said, refusing to elaborate further on details of possible sanctions.
He noted that South Korea and the U.S. will discuss unilateral measures, in addition to the U.N. sanctions, after watching the results of the UNSC discussion.
During separate phone conversations with President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Feb. 9, President Park Geun-hye agreed with them on the need for unilateral measures in addition to the U.N. sanctions.
It has been more than a month since the North’s nuclear test in January, but the UNSC has yet to come up with a new sanctions resolution, apparently because China, North Korea’s closest ally, has been reluctant to impose harsher measures on Pyongyang.
Beijing’s cooperation is essential to implement a meaningful sanctions resolution, as it is one of five veto-holding permanent members of the UNSC and the main provider of food and fuel aid to the impoverished North.
But the official made it clear that making a decision on whether to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to the peninsula is Seoul’s sovereign right, referring to objections regarding the issue voiced by China.
“The decision will be made in accordance with national security and interests,” he said. “No other conditions are linked to this.”
The remark was construed as downplaying speculation that Seoul and Washington provoked the THAAD issue to pressure China to join hands with them on producing harsher sanctions against Pyongyang, if Beijing does not want a THAAD battery to be placed on Korean soil.
“I haven’t heard that the THAAD issue is linked with Beijing’s participation in the UNSC discussion for sanctions,” he said.
China has been opposed to the THAAD deployment on the peninsula out of concerns that its radar could snoop on the country’s military activities.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye