Park, Xi discuss NK threats

By Kang Seung-woo

President Park Geun-hye

President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed ways Friday to address North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs, Cheong Wa Dae said.

The presidential office said that the two heads of state held a 45-minute phone conversataion from 9 p.m.

This was Park’s first time speaking on the phone with Xi following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.

The phone conversation came about as the Kim Jong-un regime is preparing to launch a satellite ─ believed to be a front for a long-range ballistic missile test ─ sometime between Feb. 8 and 25.

“Park stressed the need to deliver the international community’s stern message to the North by adopting a strong and effective resolution to change the country at this time,” Park’s office said in a statement.

A U.S.-led push for the toughest-yet sanctions on the North are underway at the United Nations (U.N.).

“In this respect, President Park asked President Xi to join the move to punish the North because China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and can exert its leverage on the North," it said.

However, Cheong Wa Dae did not disclose how Xi reacted to Park's request.

In the wake of last month’s alleged hydrogen bomb test, Park sought to talk with Xi to ask China to help issue “substantive and effective” punishments against North Korea for its latest provocation, but the Chinese side remained inactive out of concern that strong sanctions could destabilize the North, which in turn could hurt Beijing’s national interests ─ a sharp contrast to Park’s phones conversations with U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the day after the North’s test, in which they agreed to a united and strong international response to North Korea’s reckless behavior.