China and South Korea agreed yesterday to work at defusing tensions over North Korea's nuclear program, bringing two major players in the region together to "prevent the situation from further aggravating," a top diplomat said.
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-sik and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed their countries would try "to resolve North Korea's nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue," a senior South Korean Foreign Ministry official said.
"The two sides will work to prevent the situation from further aggravating," said Shin Jung-seung, director of Asia-Pacific affairs at South Korea's Foreign Ministry. He didn't elaborate on the nature of the collaboration.
In Seoul, President Kim Dae-jung yesterday promised to step up efforts to defuse tension over North Korea's nuclear program, calling for an active South Korean role in trying to resolve the confrontation between the US and North Korea.
"The two sides must resolve their dispute through dialogue and help North Korea become a responsible member of the international community," Kim was quoted as saying by his spokeswoman, Park Sun-sook. "As a party concerned, we must play a role in this process."
Earlier yesterday, South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said the nuclear issue was "a matter that affects the destiny of our people."
"Therefore, we should actively search for a solution that can make all parties -- South and North Korea and related countries -- the winner," Jeong said.
Jeong, whose ministry handles inter-Korean affairs, said his government will use upcoming inter-Korean Cabinet-level talks to urge North Korea to retract recent moves to restart its nuclear facilities.
The Cabinet talks, due to be held in mid-January, are the highest channel of dialogue at this time between the two sides and will provide the first opportunity for South Korea to directly raise the nuclear issue with the North.
South Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong said his government was a bystander during an earlier crisis over the same North Korean facilities in 1993-1994.
"We should learn a lesson from our experience with the 1993-1994 crisis," he said. At that time, inter-Korean ties were at one of their lowest levels, and South Korea could not find any role to play.
Tensions about North Korea -- particularly with the US -- have increased since October, when the North acknowledged it had reactivated its nuclear program. A flurry of diplomacy has taken place since then, including frequent visits by high-level US officials to both Beijing and Seoul.
Lee arrived in Beijing on Wednesday. He planned no public statement during or after the meetings in China, another South Korean official said.
China's Foreign Ministry, in a statement yesterday afternoon, said only that the two men "exchanged views about bilateral concerns and the common concern of the North Korean nuclear issue."
China is an important player in the drama for two reasons -- the influence it wields in the region and its unique status as a longtime ally of North Korea, though Beijing is treading a fine line as it balances neighborly relations with its international obligations.
The Chinese government has said repeatedly that it wants a "nuclear-free Korean Peninsula" but has steered clear of criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's regime.
RSS