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China officials: Appeasement of N. Korea by South not helping
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EAST-ASIA-INTEL.COM
Thursday, June 2, 2005
China has informed the United States that its efforts to persuade North Korea to return to nuclear talks cannot bear fruits as long as South Korea maintains its "appeasement" towards Pyongyang, according to a South Korean lawmaker.
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Park Jin of the Grand National Party.
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The Chinese officials said their efforts to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table were facing difficulties because of Seoul's appeasement policy toward Pyongyang.
"We have consistently urged China to play an active role in persuading North Korea, but it was found that the South Korean government is holding the key to the resolution of the nuclear dispute," Park told journalists. He called on Seoul to join international pressure on North Korea and to boost the Chinese officials who are contending with anti-U.S. factions in Beijing over how to resolve the nuclear standoff.
Park refused to identify the U.S. official quoted.
South Korea and the United States have been asking China to use its influence to induce North Korea back into the six-nation talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
China, the only remaining major ally of the North, is believed to have significant leverage over the impoverished communist neighbor that has long been dependent upon aid from Beijing to prop up its moribund economy.
China's trade with North Korea rose 35 percent in 2004 and grew at almost double that rate during the first three months of this year. China was the source of 85 percent of the $59 million in foreign investment North Korea attracted last year.
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