S. Korea, US and China coordinating pressure on N. Korea

Posted on : 2013-05-09 17:08 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Recent diplomatic activity shows three countries working together to address N. Korea nuclear issue
 staff photographer)
staff photographer)

By Kim Kyu-won and Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporters and Seong Yeon-cheol, Beijing correspondent

Seoul, Washington, and Beijing are working together on an all-out pressure offensive against Pyongyang.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and US President Barack Obama formally stated at their May 7 summit that North Korea would have to make changes before any dialogue could take place. Prior to the meeting, the Bank of China blocked accounts with North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank (FTB).

The question now is how North Korea will react to the pressure.

Park and Obama made it clear at their summit that North Korea would have to make changes first if it wants dialogue.

Obama said at a press conference that the two countries were “prepared to engage with North Korea diplomatically and, over time, build trust.”

But he also stressed, “the days when North Korea could create a crisis and elicit concessions . . . are over.”

The remarks sent a strong message to Pyongyang that it is on the wrong path and needs to get back on the right track. They also surprised some observers who were expecting a surprise dialogue offer to North Korea to emerge from the summit in response to the recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Similar behavior was seen from Beijing. On May 7, just before the South Korea-US summit, the Bank of China gave notice to FTB that it was closing its accounts and halting all financial transactions. The Bank of China is the country’s largest foreign exchange bank, while FTB handles North Korea’s overseas financial operations.

The decision was made independently by the bank, but Beijing’s decision not to prevent it was seen by many as tantamount to sanctions by the Chinese government.

The possibility that Beijing might go along with the sanctions was foreshadowed by frequent contact among the three countries in recent weeks. The past month saw a frantic barrage of visits to China by South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lim Sung-nam, and from US Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Department Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen. Wu Dawei, China’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs and senior representative to the six-party talks, also visited the US. In all cases, the main issue on the agenda was coordinating North Korea policy. Kerry and Cohen in particular pushed strongly for China to go in on sanctions.

Changes in position on North Korea were evident elsewhere in China. After meeting with Lim on May 1, Wu said China, “agreed with South Korea and the US’s position that North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is unacceptable and that North Korean denuclearization is necessary.”

A circular document passed around within the Chinese administration reportedly stated that UN Security Council resolutions sanctioning North Korea needed to be enforced to get the North to denuclearize. In the past, North Korea’s nuclear tests were seen as showing only rudimentary capabilities; now, it seems, Beijing has decided it cannot tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea.

The question now is how Pyongyang will respond to the three-pronged offensive. The South Korean government and some experts predicted difficulties holding dialogue in the short term if North Korea objects.

“North Korea puts a lot of emphasis on principle,” said Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-hyun. “So it’s difficult to see it going along willingly. In the long run, it will have to agree to dialogue, but don’t expect to see any breakthroughs for the time being.”

But the international high-pressure system doesn’t look to be breaking up any time soon.

“North Korea may have been trying to get something by raising tensions in the months since February, but South Korea, the US, and China are not going to accept that anymore,” said a South Korean government official.

“They need to understand that this [pressure] is going to keep up for a pretty long time,” the official added.

 

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