(EDITORIAL from the JoongAng Daily on May 14)

Cheonan diplomacy

Diplomacy surrounding the Cheonan incident is at its peak. With the announcement
of the results of the joint military and civilian investigation coming soon,
Korea, the United States and China are engaging in a flurry of diplomatic
maneuvers. All the related parties have been actively weighing their own
diplomatic responses to the incident in case the investigation team concludes
that North Korea was behind the tragic sinking of the South Korean warship.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the matter with Chinese Vice
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dai Bingguo for over an hour yesterday. Clinton may
visit South Korea on her way to the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in
Beijing on May 24. Yesterday Sung Kim - the U.S. special envoy for the six-party
talks who accompanied Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for
East Asian and Pacific affairs, to Beijing - met with his South Korean
counterparts in Seoul, and our Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon left for
Washington. Meanwhile, the Korean, Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers???
meeting will be held in Gyeongju on Saturday and Sunday. We believe the Cheonan
incident should be the main topic for discussion at the meeting.
The Gyeongju meeting is a precursor to the Korea-China-Japan summit in Jeju set
for late this month. The summit was expected to cover cooperation between the
three countries on issues including the free trade agreement and the East Asia
Summit. But following the Cheonan incident, that should be the top priority.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Yellow Sea is almost an inland sea shared
by Korea, China and Japan because a great amount of maritime trade is conducted
among them. Guaranteeing a safe transportation route there is vital to all three
countries. Therefore, the sudden death of 46 South Korean Navy soldiers does not
pertain to Korea alone; China and Japan should also recognize it is their issue,
too. All three countries should deal with the incident in collaboration with each
other.
The government should explain the investigation results to China and Japan in
full detail and draw up plans for a joint reaction. When it becomes clear who is
responsible for the incident, it would be in the best interests of China and
Japan to join international efforts to penalize the culprit and ensure such
incidents do not recur.
The government also needs to make it clear to both China and Japan that the
six-party talks will be affected by the investigation results. China needs to
understand that its participation in resolving the Cheonan incident is the right
response for the nation that it hopes to become.
(END)

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