South Korea Refuses China’s Proposal To Attend Six-Party Talks On Korean Peninsula
South Korea rejects China’s proposition to start six-party direct talks in the region with the North as a means to diffuse the tense situation existing in the Korean peninsula.
The South Korean refusal comes at a time when the South and the United States Army entered a common drill in the Yellow Sea, a joint operation that is strongly opposed by the regime in Pyongyang, and is construed as the reason for the attack of the Northern military against an island belonging to the South.
The South Korean foreign minister said that the Chinese proposition deserves a better examination, which is a diplomatic way to say that it rejects the resumption of talks.
President Lee Myung-bak was quoted to have said during a meeting with Chinese officials that the timing is not appropriate to talk about solving the relations with the North.
China proposes to host international talks on Korean peninsula in December, and is expecting the talks to be attended by the South and North Koreas, Japan, United States and Russia.
While meeting China’s State Councilor Dai Bingguo, South Korean president urged China to use influence over the North in order to diffuse the conflict, adding that if the Communist country will fire on the South again, the response will be far more powerful.
USS George Washington carrier and a few South Korean naval destroyers are in the Yellow Sea where they are to participate in some four-day war games.
US officials have reminded that the drills had been scheduled far before the day when the North bombarded the South’s island, but did not deny that the joint naval maneuvers are a show of force meant to deter the Communist regime from attacking the South.
It is not known yet, however, what the reaction of the North will be as soon as USS G. Washington departs. South Korean media reports that the North has put surface-to-surface missiles on the launch pads in the Yellow Sea, and also moved surface-to-air missiles to the front-line.
Pyongyang has warned on Sunday with “brutal military blow” if the national territory is violated.
The Communist regime has acknowledged hitting the island on the South’s territory, saying that while the deaths of the civilian victims was regrettable, it is condemnable that the South uses the civilians as human shields.
President of South Korea is expected to address the nation on Monday, the first public address since the North Korean attack.
