ID :
151563
Mon, 11/29/2010 - 07:26
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/151563
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S. Korea, U.S. hold naval drill, China proposes 6-nation crisis talks
BEIJING/SEOUL/PYONGYANG, Nov. 28 Kyodo -
South Korea and the United States began a joint naval exercise in the tense
Yellow Sea on Sunday, while China proposed emergency consultations among senior
officials of the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia be held in
Beijing in early December to tackle the Korean Peninsula crisis.
The four-day naval exercise, led by the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier George
Washington, commenced off the west coast of South Korea just five days after
North Korea shelled a South Korea border island, killing four people, causing
extensive damage and fueling fears of a resumption of war.
Pyongyang has warned that the naval maneuvers have brought the region to the
brink of war and Beijing too opposes them as provocative, but Seoul and
Washington say they need to demonstrate the strength of their alliance in the
face of North Korean aggression.
China, North Korea's traditional ally and largest benefactor, said it is
proposing emergency consultations among the heads of delegations to the stalled
six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization -- but to discuss the rising
tension on the Korean Peninsula, not the denuclearization issue.
Its official Xinhua News Agency quoted China's nuclear envoy Wu Dawei as saying
the delegation heads would ''exchange views on major issues of concern to the
parties at present'' and to ''make due contribution to maintaining peace and
stability on the Peninsula and easing the tension in Northeast Asia.''
Wu cited ''a series of complicated factors'' that have recently emerged on the
Korean Peninsula that are of deep concern to the six countries, as well as
other members of the international community.
He said that while the proposed consultations would not mean the resumption of
dialogue on North Korea's denuclearization, which have been stalled for two
years now, they could ''help create conditions'' for resuming that dialogue.
South Korea's foreign ministry, in a statement, said China's proposal for the
emergency meeting ''should be reviewed very carefully'' and that Seoul would
''pay special attention'' to it.
But it said North Korea's recent revelation of a light-water site and a uranium
enrichment facility and its recent provocations, including Tuesday's artillery
attack on Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March,
have negatively impacted efforts to resume the troubled
aid-for-denuclearization talks, which were last held in December 2008.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency characterized the ministry's reaction to
China's proposal as ''a de facto rejection.''
In Tokyo, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama told
reporters that Japan will consider the matter carefully in coordination with
South Korea and the United States.
But a Japanese government source suggested the six-party talks may not be a
suitable forum for taking up North Korea's recent military actions as the
multilateral framework is meant to discuss issues related to Pyongyang's
nuclear program.
North Korea has recently expressed a wish to restart the denuclearization
talks, but the United States, South Korea and Japan are reluctant to hold them
now, given the two military incidents this year and Pyongyang's uranium
enrichment revelation, a move that would give it a second way of developing
nuclear weapons in addition to its known plutonium-based program.
Meanwhile, China has opposed U.S.-South Korea naval exercises in the Yellow Sea,
especially since they involve a U.S. aircraft carrier, suggesting they undermine
its security interests and could provoke North Korea.
''We are opposed to any parties conducting unilateral military actions in
China's exclusive economic zone without approval,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei said Friday.
Hong also said that since the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is
highly sensitive, all parties involved ''should remain calm and make efforts to
relieve the tense situation and maintain stability in the area of the peninsula
-- not do the opposite.''
The United States, however, insists on its right to hold exercises in
international waters in the Yellow Sea. Both Washington and Seoul have said
Beijing should not view them as a security threat.
Washington says the series of exercises announced in July are instead intended
to deter North Korea from future destabilizing attacks such as that on Tuesday,
which was the most serious attack on the South since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The latest exercise is being held about 100 kilometers south of the island.
The George Washington last exercised in the Yellow Sea in October last year,
while South Korea and the United States held anti-submarine drills there in
late September through early October of this year.
North Korea, which says Tuesday's attack was in retaliation for the South's
firing of shells earlier that day into what the North claims as its territorial
waters, has threatened to launch a ''second and third strong physical
retaliatory blow.''
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak told visiting Chinese State Councilor Dai
Bingguo on Sunday that South Korea will ''forcefully'' deal with any further
North Korean provocation, Lee's spokesman said.
In a statement on Sunday, Pyongyang's ''National Peace Committee of Korea''
said the joint exercise is ''no more than an attempt to find a pretext for
aggression and ignite a war at any cost'' and called it ''the height of folly''
for Washington and Seoul to assume they can ''browbeat (North Korea) with such
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.''
''Military conflict might break out anytime,'' it said.
South Korea's Defense Ministry on Sunday asked hundreds of journalists on
Yeonpyeong Island to leave by the end of the day, citing concerns of further
''provocative actions'' by Pyongyang.
''It is totally unpredictable what provocative acts the North will do, putting
the blame on the South Korea-U.S. joint military drills that kicked off
today,'' the ministry said in a statement.
North Korea has deployed surface-to-air and anti-ship missiles near the Yellow
Sea, Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting South Korean government sources.
As of Sunday night, North Korea had yet to respond publicly to the Chinese
proposal.
But analysts say Pyongyang appears to be cautious about the envisaged gathering
because it could become a mere forum for criticism from other parties over the
shelling incident, which would then drive the country into further
international isolation.
They say North Korea may not accept the plan unless the proposed session would
facilitate its aim for bilateral talks with the United States.
==Kyodo
South Korea and the United States began a joint naval exercise in the tense
Yellow Sea on Sunday, while China proposed emergency consultations among senior
officials of the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia be held in
Beijing in early December to tackle the Korean Peninsula crisis.
The four-day naval exercise, led by the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier George
Washington, commenced off the west coast of South Korea just five days after
North Korea shelled a South Korea border island, killing four people, causing
extensive damage and fueling fears of a resumption of war.
Pyongyang has warned that the naval maneuvers have brought the region to the
brink of war and Beijing too opposes them as provocative, but Seoul and
Washington say they need to demonstrate the strength of their alliance in the
face of North Korean aggression.
China, North Korea's traditional ally and largest benefactor, said it is
proposing emergency consultations among the heads of delegations to the stalled
six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization -- but to discuss the rising
tension on the Korean Peninsula, not the denuclearization issue.
Its official Xinhua News Agency quoted China's nuclear envoy Wu Dawei as saying
the delegation heads would ''exchange views on major issues of concern to the
parties at present'' and to ''make due contribution to maintaining peace and
stability on the Peninsula and easing the tension in Northeast Asia.''
Wu cited ''a series of complicated factors'' that have recently emerged on the
Korean Peninsula that are of deep concern to the six countries, as well as
other members of the international community.
He said that while the proposed consultations would not mean the resumption of
dialogue on North Korea's denuclearization, which have been stalled for two
years now, they could ''help create conditions'' for resuming that dialogue.
South Korea's foreign ministry, in a statement, said China's proposal for the
emergency meeting ''should be reviewed very carefully'' and that Seoul would
''pay special attention'' to it.
But it said North Korea's recent revelation of a light-water site and a uranium
enrichment facility and its recent provocations, including Tuesday's artillery
attack on Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March,
have negatively impacted efforts to resume the troubled
aid-for-denuclearization talks, which were last held in December 2008.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency characterized the ministry's reaction to
China's proposal as ''a de facto rejection.''
In Tokyo, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama told
reporters that Japan will consider the matter carefully in coordination with
South Korea and the United States.
But a Japanese government source suggested the six-party talks may not be a
suitable forum for taking up North Korea's recent military actions as the
multilateral framework is meant to discuss issues related to Pyongyang's
nuclear program.
North Korea has recently expressed a wish to restart the denuclearization
talks, but the United States, South Korea and Japan are reluctant to hold them
now, given the two military incidents this year and Pyongyang's uranium
enrichment revelation, a move that would give it a second way of developing
nuclear weapons in addition to its known plutonium-based program.
Meanwhile, China has opposed U.S.-South Korea naval exercises in the Yellow Sea,
especially since they involve a U.S. aircraft carrier, suggesting they undermine
its security interests and could provoke North Korea.
''We are opposed to any parties conducting unilateral military actions in
China's exclusive economic zone without approval,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei said Friday.
Hong also said that since the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is
highly sensitive, all parties involved ''should remain calm and make efforts to
relieve the tense situation and maintain stability in the area of the peninsula
-- not do the opposite.''
The United States, however, insists on its right to hold exercises in
international waters in the Yellow Sea. Both Washington and Seoul have said
Beijing should not view them as a security threat.
Washington says the series of exercises announced in July are instead intended
to deter North Korea from future destabilizing attacks such as that on Tuesday,
which was the most serious attack on the South since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The latest exercise is being held about 100 kilometers south of the island.
The George Washington last exercised in the Yellow Sea in October last year,
while South Korea and the United States held anti-submarine drills there in
late September through early October of this year.
North Korea, which says Tuesday's attack was in retaliation for the South's
firing of shells earlier that day into what the North claims as its territorial
waters, has threatened to launch a ''second and third strong physical
retaliatory blow.''
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak told visiting Chinese State Councilor Dai
Bingguo on Sunday that South Korea will ''forcefully'' deal with any further
North Korean provocation, Lee's spokesman said.
In a statement on Sunday, Pyongyang's ''National Peace Committee of Korea''
said the joint exercise is ''no more than an attempt to find a pretext for
aggression and ignite a war at any cost'' and called it ''the height of folly''
for Washington and Seoul to assume they can ''browbeat (North Korea) with such
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.''
''Military conflict might break out anytime,'' it said.
South Korea's Defense Ministry on Sunday asked hundreds of journalists on
Yeonpyeong Island to leave by the end of the day, citing concerns of further
''provocative actions'' by Pyongyang.
''It is totally unpredictable what provocative acts the North will do, putting
the blame on the South Korea-U.S. joint military drills that kicked off
today,'' the ministry said in a statement.
North Korea has deployed surface-to-air and anti-ship missiles near the Yellow
Sea, Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting South Korean government sources.
As of Sunday night, North Korea had yet to respond publicly to the Chinese
proposal.
But analysts say Pyongyang appears to be cautious about the envisaged gathering
because it could become a mere forum for criticism from other parties over the
shelling incident, which would then drive the country into further
international isolation.
They say North Korea may not accept the plan unless the proposed session would
facilitate its aim for bilateral talks with the United States.
==Kyodo
