S. Korea, U.S. reaffirm united front in implementing U.N.resolution

South Korea and the U.S. delivered a joint warning on Thursday that North Korea should not conduct another nuclear test, as China sent a high-powered envoy to North Korea as part of its own diplomatic efforts to persuade Pyongyang to reverse its course.

Seoul and Washington also reaffirmed their unified approach to implementing the U.N. resolution over North Korea's nuclear test last week.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she expects South Korea to take measures to prevent North Korea from trafficking nuclear weapons and related materials, saying "there are many ways" to do so.

She said the U.N. resolution declares "an obligation of all states to keep North Korea from trafficking in nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons technology, financing their programs and receiving support for those programs."

"We want scrutiny of North Korean cargo that might be involved in such programs," she told a joint press conference with her South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon after their hour-long talks in Seoul. Rice refused to specify what measures the South Korean government needs to take.

"I did not come to South Korea nor do I go any place else to try to dictate to governments what they ought to do," she said. The two allies also warned the North that it will faces "more grave consequences" if it goes ahead with a second nuclear test.

"As to a possible North Korean second nuclear test, we agreed that it would aggravate the current situation and that it should never take place," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said.

"We agreed that in the event it happens, there should be more grave consequences."

Rice also stressed the need for South Korea, China, and other regional powers to use their leverage on North Korea to resolve the crisis.

"Everyone should take stock of the leverage that we have to get North Korea to return to the six-party talks and negotiate seriously over the dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program," she said. She was referring to the moribund nuclear disarmament talks about North Korea's nuclear program, which have been boycotted by the communist regime for a year.

On Saturday, the 15-member U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution which authorizes far-reaching, non-military sanctions on North Korea. The communist state drew international condemnation after proclaiming last week that it performed a successful nuclear test.

The resolution requires the international community to prevent the sale or transfer of materials related to Pyongyang's unconventional weapons programs, as well as demanding that nations freeze the overseas funds of people or businesses connected with North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Rice expressed hope that a Chinese special envoy visiting Pyongyang would help reverse North Korea's course, saying Beijing has been playing a key role in the nuclear talks.

Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan traveled to North Korea as a special envoy of President Hu Jintao in a bid to persuade North Korea not to take further provocative action. Tang met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Rice said the six-party framework is more powerful and effective than the bilateral U.S.-North Korea framework, saying the six-party talks have the other countries, namely South Korea, China, Russia and Japan, to present incentives for North Korea as well as potential disincentives.

"Obviously, it is ultimately a combination of the two that will probably lead to the right outcome," she said.

But the U.S. has been forced to shift its focus on implementing the U.N. resolution as North Korea defied the international system and detonated a nuclear bomb, she said.

Prior to the joint press conference, Rice met with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun at his Cheong Wa Dae office and shared the view that North Korea's nuclear bomb test was a direct challenge to international stability and peace, Roh's office said.

"South Korea and the U.S. will closely cooperate in forcing North Korea to abandon its nuclear program," Cheong Wa Dae said in a brief statement outlining the result of the Roh-Rice talks that lasted for 80 minutes.

Seoul, Oct. 19 (Yonhap News)