Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
Park stresses China's role in NK issue
President Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama smile during a summit at the White House in Washington, Tuesday. The two leaders agreed not to tolerate North Korea’s belligerent behavior. / Yonhap
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday China should do more to resolve the North Korea issue.
“I believe that China can exert more influence on North Korea, I think they can do more,” President Park told the Washington Post during her first official visit to the United States, where she met her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and discussed issues encompassing the communist country.
“In order for North Korea to change, and in order for the Korean Peninsula to enjoy greater peace, North Korea needs to choose the right path, and China should exert greater influence in inducing North Korea to do so.”
After the Kim Jong-un regime’s most recent provocations ― a rocket launch in December and a nuclear test in February ― China, Pyongyang’s major ally and largest trade partner, appears to have distanced itself from North Korea, joining the U.S.-led U.N. Security Council (UNSC)’s expanded sanctions on the North in March.
In addition, the state-run Bank of China announced Tuesday it had suspended all transactions by the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea, another U.S.-led push to contain funding for the North’s nuclear and missile proliferation programs.
“We can’t expect China to do everything, and the Chinese also say they can’t do everything. But I do believe there’s room for them to undertake more with respect to some material aspects,” Park said.
She added that China, the world’s second-largest economy, can be a role model for its ally in terms of economic development.
“China has been able to achieve growth and development through reform and opening, and I think this offers a very good model for North Korea to follow, and so they can perhaps strengthen their persuasion of Korea in this regard,” she said.
There is currently bad blood between South Korea and Japan due to the latter’s continued denial of the country’s wartime history and its persistent claims to Korea’s Dokdo islets, which Park said made her “disappointed and frustrated.” Korea was colonized by Japan between 1910 and 1945.
“The Japanese have been opening past wounds and have been letting them fester, and this applies not only to Korea but also to other neighboring countries,” she said.
“This arrests our ability to really build momentum, so I hope that Japan reflects upon itself.”