By Kim Jong-chan
Neither South Korean President Lee Myung-bak nor Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's No. 2 leader, acknowledged each other's presence at a special dinner Chinese President Hu Jintao held for about 20 state guests before the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai last Friday.
The dinner took place at a sensitive time when investigators, including those from Sweden, Australia and the United States, were pointing to a torpedo attack as the likely cause of the sinking of the South Korean Navy ship Cheonan in late March near the sea border with North Korea. The North has claimed it had nothing to do with the naval disaster.
President Lee, accompanied by first lady Kim Ok-soon, walked past Kim, chairman of North Korea's parliament, while the latter was seated beside the presidential couple.
The situation was different when Lee and Kim Yong-nam met at a dinner in Beijing on the eve of the opening the 2008 Summer Olympics. They exchanged greetings, but had no further conversation. It was President Lee's first meeting with a North Korean official since his inauguration in February that year.
One year later, Lee met with Kim Ki-nam, secretary of the Central Committee of the North Korean Workers' Party, during the latter's visit to Seoul in his capacity as chief of a six-man delegation for the funeral of the late former President Kim Dae-jung.
The secretary conveyed an oral message from their leader Kim Jong-il about advancing inter-Korean cooperation, and Lee told the delegates to convey the principles of his North Korea policy to Kim ― guaranteeing the North's security and economic assistance from the five other countries participating in the six-party talks in exchange for the communist state's ending of its nuclear programs.
The impoverished state has refused to return to the negotiations until the sanctions it incurred after its missile and nuclear tests last year are lifted and involved parties agree to discuss a peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
But this time at the Shanghai World Expo reception, Lee and Kim Yong-nam didn't encounter each other, despite prior speculation of an unscheduled meeting.
The dinner took place hours after President Lee held a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao during which Hu expressed his condolences for the bereaved families of South Korean sailors killed in the sinking of the Cheonan, which claimed the lives of 46.
Three days after President Lee, in his talks with Hu, sought his cooperation in resolving questions about the sinking, North Korean leader Kim began a trip to China, Monday. Seoul was displeased with the timing of Kim's trip. Moreover, Beijing should have informed Seoul of the visit.
Pyongyang, amid suspicions that it was behind the sinking of the Cheonan, might have thought that if Kim shows strong determination to resume the stalled denuclearization talks during the trip, it could deflect attention away from the tragic incident.
Once investigators reveal the exact cause of the sinking, it could fuel tensions on the peninsula. On several occasions, the government has pledged to take stern measures, if a North Korean torpedo attack is confirmed to have caused the ship to sink.
But there will be little room for South Korea to opt for military action on its own. Seoul, which is set to host a G-20 Summit in November, will have no choice but to address the issue diplomatically, not militarily -- for instance, fine-tuning economic sanctions with the international community.
The government could take the Cheonan issue to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC), only when it secures rock-solid evidence showing North Korean involvement in the hostile act.
Even if the ongoing scientific and objective investigation into the tragedy yields any tangible results backing the communist state's involvement, it remains to be seen whether China will join an international move to impose sanctions on North Korea.
China, a veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council member, has adopted a soft-gloved approach every time the reclusive state, its traditional ally, has done anything.