By DPA,
Seoul : South Korea said Monday that it hoped upcoming Sino-US talks could help put pressure on North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons programme and improve inter-Korean relations.
US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao are slated to meet Wednesday in Washington to lay the groundwork for broadened cooperation on a range of security and economic issues, including North Korea.
“We hope that issues related to a serious change in North Korea’s attitude will be dealt with as a priority during President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US and we hope that China, as leader of this region, will play a responsible role for peace, stability and denuclearisation,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young Sun was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
Pyongyang must make a serious change in its attitude in order to improve inter-Korean relations and achieve denuclearization of North Korea through multilateral talks, Kim said.
As North Korea’s closest ally, China has a special role to play in pressuring Pyongyang and maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday.
In an interview with US media published the same day as Clinton’s speech, Hu called for the six-party talks, also involving the US, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan to resume soon.
“We hope that the relevant parties will seize the opportunity to engage in active interactions, resume the process of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, and ensure that the situation on the peninsula will move forward in a positive direction,” Hu said.
China opposes North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and has been trying to coax Pyongyang into dismantling its nuclear facilities in return for economic aid and political acceptance. But Beijing also believes Washington and Seoul must do more to narrow their differences with Pyongyang.