Tensions remain high along the demilitarized zone after South Korea resumed propaganda broadcasts last week against North Korea in retaliation to the January 6 nuclear test by the Kim Jong Un regime.
Advertisement
Hong stressed the “shared responsibility of China and South Korea” in safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
There is widespread scepticism over the H-bomb claim, but whatever the North detonated underground is likely to push the country closer towards a fully functional nuclear arsenal, which it still is not thought to have.
At a news conference in Seoul, Park said South Korea is cooperating closely with the United States and other allies to develop new United Nations sanctions that will make North Korea feel “bone-numbing pain”.
Park said the U.N. Security Council’s fresh resolution on the DPRK, now under discussion, would include a variety of new sanctions on finance and trade, portraying it as the strong and comprehensive one that will cause a change in the DPRK’s behavior. While the secondary boycott provisions are not compulsory, the Department of the Treasury and other agencies would be required to investigate financial institutions over a six-month period for North Korean accounts suspected of money laundering.
President Park also pushed the National Assembly of Korea to pass the Counter Terrorism Prevention Act.
North Korea’s claim that its most recent nuclear test was of a more advanced and powerful hydrogen bomb drew skepticism from the U.S. government and experts.
But whatever the nature of the device, it was North Korea’s fourth nuclear test since 2006, and further evidence of Pyongyang’s intention to continue developing its nuclear weapons capability in the face of worldwide censure. The fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping has not returned Park’s calls in the wake of the nuclear test led to skeptic views on the bilateral ties of the two countries.
However she recognized that without support from China, which provides key economic support to North Korea, it would be hard to effectively pressure the Kim Jong Un government to halt its nuclear program.
“China’s basic stance is that the North Korean nuclear problem should be resolved through negotiations”, Cheong Seong Chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said by text message.
Advertisement
“(The current administration) deserves some credit for drawing the best possible result from such a tricky situation”, Park said, noting that the elderly survivors are not given much time.
