Beijing refuses U.S. proposal to sanction N. Korea

Beijing refuses U.S. proposal to sanction N. Korea. January. 28, 2016 07:20. by 한기흥기자 eligius@donga.com.

Only in three weeks from North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, U.S. State Secretary John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing on Wednesday. Secretary Kerry said in a press conference, “We agreed on the need for a strong U.N. Security Council resolution to sanction North Korea,” while his Chinese counterpart said, “Sanctions should not be the purpose itself and the North Korean nuclear issue should be addressed through dialogues and negotiations, which are the only solution.” Washington and Beijing had explicitly different views in details on how to sanction the isolated country and the degree of sanctions. There are many concerns about whether the U.N. Security Council’s resolution on sanctioning North Korea can be more powerful than those that followed the country’s first to third nuclear tests and contain effective measures in February.

Secretary Kerry explained to the Chinese foreign minister his initiatives on sanctions against North Korea, including suspension of crude oil supply to North Korea, a ban on importing North Korean coal and iron ore and sanctions on governments, companies and banks in third countries transacting with North Korea (secondary boycott), but he is said to have refused to cooperate with him. Beijing seems to believe that making the Kim Jong Un regime alive is more advantageous to it strategically, rather than making the regime collapse with strong sanctions. To press China, Kerry said, “The U.S. will do whatever it can do to protect is alliances,” which did not seem to work well, however.

As Beijing sides with Pyongyang publicly, the prospect for the resolution of North Korea’s nuclear issue remains bleak. China’s state-run newspaper said on the potential deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) over the Korean Peninsula, “South Korea should be ready for paying the price for that.” Such threat clearly shows how China sees South and North Korea. “The Korea-Sino relationship over the past three years is now best ever as China says,” South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se said in an interview on Tuesday. Seoul cannot make a phone call Beijing at this critical juncture and how can this be the best-ever relationship?

Russia opposed a five-party talks, which excludes North Korea, saying on Tuesday, “We’ll increase trade volume with North Korea up to one billion dollars going forward.” Even in this post-cold war era, the confrontation between South Korea, the U.S, and Japan and North Korea, China, and Russia has not changed much. Though Washington and Beijing might have a strategic dialogue over North Korea’s future, Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have no choice but to press Pyongyang in reality. If Beijing intends to give just a slap on North Korea’s wrist, it will mean a betrayal of South Korea and the international community.