China, Pyongyang’s major benefactor, urged its outcast neighbor Sunday to make a «smart decision» and stop conducting missile launches and nuclear tests.
A U. S. push to further isolate North Korea appeared to be reaping some dividends Sunday as China, Pyongyang’s major benefactor, urged its outcast neighbor to make a «smart decision» and stop conducting missile launches and nuclear tests.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, after meeting with North Korea’s top diplomat during an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering here in the Philippine capital, said the situation on the Korean Peninsula is critical. He also said, however, that it could be a turning point for negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear proliferation, which led the U. N. Security Council to impose more sanctions on North Korea and its exports on Saturday.
«Do not violate the U. N.’s decision or provoke international society’s goodwill by conducting missile launching or nuclear tests, » Wang said after talks with Ri Yong Ho, North Korea’s foreign minister. Wang, however, quickly added, «Of course, we would like to urge other parties like the U. S. and South Korea to stop increasing tensions.»
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Manila on Saturday night in what State Department officials have said will be a concerted effort to enlist other countries in the campaign to get North Korea to abandon its missile and nuclear tests. Concern has mounted that North Korea is developing its missile technology quicker than expected, after tests last month of missiles that experts said are capable of striking the U. S. mainland, perhaps as far inland as Chicago.
«Certainly we want to resolve this issue through negotiations, and this pressure campaign, the sanctions, it’s all about trying to convince the North Koreans that the fast way forward is to come back to the table and talk, » said Susan Thornton, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
But Tillerson also has pointedly stated several times that the United States does not seek regime change or a rapid reunification of the two Koreas, which have been in a state of suspended hostility since an armistice was declared in 1953.
On Sunday, he declared the latest U. N. sanctions a «good outcome.» That prompted South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to correct him slightly.
