Burns says Seoul can do more on N.K. sanctions, puts N.K. issue at center of ties with China

A senior U.S. official said Wednesday South Korea could do more to implement U.N. sanctions against North Korea, a topic he and others especially focused on in the Seoul part of their travel to Asia last week.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, coming out of a House hearing, said South Korea agreed to full and effective implementation of Resolution 1718, adopted last month to punish North Korea.

"There is certainly more that can be done by South Korea, and we gave the South Korean government some ideas last week," he told reporters.

"We do think that it's important to send a message to North Korea, 'no business as usual,' and further measures could be taken by the South Korean government in that regard."

Burns and Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph had swung through Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing to coordinate their positions for the planned resumption of six-party North Korea nuclear talks.

They held separate talks with Russians in Beijing.

On Monday, however, Seoul announced it will not participate fully in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, a naval interdiction program designed to prevent the transfer of weapons of mass destruction. Washington had strongly urged Seoul to join the initiative.

After nearly a year-long boycott, Pyongyang agreed last month to return to the six-nation forum aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan are members of the talks.

The talks open against the backdrop of Resolution 1718, adopted unanimously by the U.N. Security Council in reaction to Pyongyang's Oct. 9 nuclear test.

The resolution calls for freezing of assets and a travel ban on individuals linked to Pyongyang's WMD program and bans trade in luxury goods, apparently meant to hurt North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his elites, known for their lavish lifestyle.

But getting South Korea and China, North Korea's neighbors and primary aid donors, aboard is considered critical for successful sanctions.

"When I was out with Undersecretary Bob Joseph in Asia last week, we spent a lot of time talking to the Russians, Chinese, South Koreans especially, about full implementation," Burns told the hearing with the House Committee on International Relations.

The undersecretary was emphatic about China's required role and said North Korea is now a major issue between Washington and Beijing.

"In fact, the president sent Undersecretary Joseph and I to China last week expressly for the purpose of spending two full days there," Burns said.

"And we made it abundantly clear, I certainly did, in my talks with Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and the other Chinese officials, that this issue is front and center in the U.S.-China relationship."

He said he believes Beijing can be counted on, that China also does not want a nuclearized North Korea.

"In our discussions with the Chinese over the last month... the Chinese have exhibited real frustration and indeed anger at what the North Koreans have done," said Burns.

Washinton, Nov. 15 (Yonhap News)