China’s military chief arrived in Seoul yesterday for talks with senior South Korean officials amid rising tensions over North Korea’s planned rocket launch.
General Chen Bingde (陳炳德), chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, met South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee ahead of talks with his counterpart Kim Tae-young, the Joint Chiefs of Staff office said.
Seoul’s call for “a positive role and efforts by the Chinese military to help address inter-Korean tensions” was on the agenda, it said in a statement.
North Korea says it will launch a communications satellite between April 4 and April 8.
South Korea, the US and Japan have denounced what they see as a disguised long-range missile test. They say a launch for any purpose would breach a UN Security Council resolution passed after the North’s missile and nuclear tests in 2006.
A joint chiefs spokesman said the rocket issue was on the agenda but refused to elaborate.
“We plan to relay to the Chinese delegation our demand that North Korea heed international warnings and halt its preparations for the launch,” an unidentified Seoul defense official told Yonhap news agency.
“China is the closest country to North Korea. Its comments carry weight, and we hope it can more actively pressure Pyongyang,” the official said.
China, a traditional ally and major aid donor for North Korea as well as a permanent UN Security Council member, has not publicly urged it to halt the launch.
The North on Tuesday warned that six-party nuclear disarmament talks would collapse if new UN sanctions were imposed to punish the launch. The forum groups the US, Japan, Russia, the two Koreas and China.
South Korea’s chief envoy to the talks,Wi Sung-lac, returned yesterday from a meeting in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei (武大偉), on possible “countermeasures” after any launch.
Wi, quoted by Yonhap, indicated there was no agreement yet on a response.
In related news, Japan may order its military to prepare to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it threatens to hit the country, media reports said yesterday, ahead of a ministerial meeting to discuss the plan.
Tokyo, which has developed a missile defense system with the US, has warned it will shoot down any object — a missile or any debris — if it threatens to hit Japanese territory.
North Korea says it would regard a rocket intercept as an act of war.
Reports said Tokyo will likely issue an order tomorrow for its armed forces to prepare to intercept the rocket.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura were to meet yesterday to discuss Japan’s response.
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