Top security officials of South Korea and the United States shared the opinion on the need to send a "clear-cut message" to North Korea to urge it to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear arms and ease the global tension triggered by its series of missile tests, an official here said Friday.
In a telephone conversation Thursday night (KST), Song Min-soon, South Korea's chief presidential secretary for security affairs, and Jack D. Crouch, U.S. deputy national security advisor, also agreed that the missile crisis should be resolved diplomatically within the framework of the six-way talks, said Jung Tae-ho, a spokesman at South Korea's presidential office.
Crouch acted for NSC Advisor Steven Hadley, who is travelling with U.S. President George W. Bush to Russia for the Group of Eight summit.
Song told the U.S. official that "South Korea has deep concerns over the fact North Korea mobilized methods the international community can't accept and wishes the unified warning by the international community be timely sent" to North Korea, Jung said.
Song, however, reiterated South Korea's position that it opposes moves by the U.S. and Japan to impose economic sanctions on the North through the U.N. Security Council. China and Russia, both veto-wielding council members, also stand against the proposal.
On July 5, Asians awoke to the news that North Korea fired seven missiles into the East Sea, ignoring repeated warnings by the international community. The missiles, all of which plunged harmlessly into the water, included a Taepodong-2 potentially capable of reaching the western U.S.
North Korea called for direct talks with the U.S. to defuse the missile dispute, but the U.S. said the issue should be resolved within the framework of the nuclear talks, which include the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. The nuclear talks have been deadlocked for several months due to a North Korean boycott.
Seoul, July 14 (Yonhap News)
S. Korean, U.S. security officials agree to send 'clear-cut message' to N. Korea |
