U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday agreed with her Japanese counterpart on the need to seek strong international condemnation of North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship, the State Department said.
In a 17-minute phone call, Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada also agreed to cooperate closely on sanctioning Iran for its nuclear programs and move the U.S. Marine air base in Futenma, Okinawa, to a less crowded area of the southern Japanese island as agreed upon in 2006, Yonhap quoted spokesman Philip Crowley as saying in Washington.
"They talked about the importance of the U.S.-Japanese alliance, the ongoing work by the expert group on implementation of the base relocation plan, and efforts to lighten the impact on the people of Okinawa," Crowley said.
"They also talked about regional issues, including the need for a strong response to the sinking of the Cheonan, and international issues, including implementation of Resolution 1929."
The phone call, the first bilateral contact between the top diplomats of the two allies since Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan took office earlier this month, comes as South Korea, the U.S. and their allies are seeking condemnation of the North at the U.N. Security Council for the torpedoing of the Cheonan on the disputed sea border in the Yellow Sea in March. Forty-six sailors were killed.
China and Russia, Pyongyang's two major allies with veto power within the Security Council, have yet to blame the North for the sinking, amid concerns they will not approve even a council presidential statement condemning Pyongyang, let alone a resolution carrying further sanctions.
South Korean officials have said they are seeking a stern warning to North Korea as a hedge against another such provocation, rather than additional sanctions.
South Korea last week presented to the 15-member U.N. Security Council the outcome of the probe by a team of investigators from South Korea, the U.S., Australia, Britain and Sweden, denouncing Pyongyang for sending a mini-submarine to torpedo the South Korean naval ship.