'China firm against nuclear NK'
By Chung Min-uck
Yun Byung-se Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Thursday that China expressed its firm opposition to North Korea’s nuclear programs during last month Seoul-Beijing summit.
“China used resolute and clear expressions about the North’s denuclearization. It was hard for us to harbor doubt,” Yun said at a debate hosted by the Kwanhun Club, a fraternity of senior Korean journalists.
Critics cast doubt about Seoul’s position that China has changed its North Korean policy. Falling short of expectations, China used the term “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” instead of “denuclearization of North Korea” in the joint communique adopted following the summit.
Removing such doubts, the country’s top diplomat said: “The term equals denuclearization of North Korea as it is the only country in the region seeking nuclear weapons.”
Yun’s remarks are in line with Park’s remarks a day earlier that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang “were resolute that the North’s nuclear weapons would never be acceptable.”
South Korea has been stepping up international efforts to pressure North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons programs.
Seoul held back-to-back summits with Washington and Beijing, Pyongyang’s last remaining ally, during the past months to secure support from the two “great powers” that wield the biggest influence over the Korean Peninsula.
Yun insisted the strategy had worked.
“Following the summits, a tripartite cooperative mechanism between South Korea, the U.S. and China has been established, leading to strengthening coordination between five parties ― including Japan and Russia,” Yun said. “Pyongyang’s charm offensives since May, including successive suggestions for dialogue, are not irrelevant to such international cooperation.”
Yun’s comments come a day after inter-Korean talks held in the border town of Gaeseong made no headway for the resumption of the joint industrial complex there.
Seoul stressed the need for Pyongyang to implement strong safeguards to prevent future disruptions to business before restarting operations at the complex. It also insisted the North apologize for its action that halted operations and caused considerable damage to South Korean companies. Pyongyang, on the other hand, wanted the immediate resumption of operations and blamed the South for the current situation.
Operations at the joint complex, the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean engagement, came to a halt in April after North Korea unilaterally pulled out all of its workers, citing Seoul and Washington’s joint military exercises and increased U.N. sanctions.
Seoul also turned down an unexpected proposal by the North, Wednesday, to start fresh negotiations on resuming tours to Mt. Geumgang. It said Pyongyang needs to take responsibility for a North Korean soldier killing a South Korean tourist in 2008 that caused the program to be halted. But Seoul did accept an offer to restart reunions of families separated by the Korean War (1950-53) on humanitarian basis.