DPRK Ambassador to Italy, Chosen Soren Chairman Appointed

Kim Chun Guk (Photo: European Institute of Asian Studies)

DPRK state media reported on 18 May (Friday) that the Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] Presidium appointed Kim Chun Guk as the country’s new ambassador to Italy.  Kim has served as the director of the DPRK Foreign Ministry’s European Bureau (department) for a number of years.  During the late 1990s and early 2000s Kim managed negotiations with the European Union and participated in the establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in 2000, Spain in January 2001, Germany in March 2001 and Luxembourg, also in March 2001.  It is not clear what nonresident ambassadorships Kim will hold.  His predecessor in Rome, Han Tae Song, was also nonresident ambassador to Malta, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and San Marino.  KCNA reports:

Kim Chun Guk was appointed as DPRK ambassador to Italy, according to a decree of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly.

Meanwhile, Ho Jong Man has been appointed chairman of Chosen Soren (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan; Chongryon), filling the vacancy left by the February 2012 death of So Man Sul.  KCNA/Kyodo report:

The pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan said Saturday Ho Jong Man, its chief vice chairman, has been chosen as its new chairman.

The move came after So Man Sul, former chairman of the group known as Chongryon, died of heart failure in February. So had been chairman since May 2001.

ARF Defers to UNSC on Cheonan While the Battle of the Beancounters Begins

Top diplomats including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun (bottom right) attend the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi on Friday. (Yonhap)

The ASEAN Regional Forum has drafted a statement that conveys “deep concerns” over the sinking of the Cheonan, and calls for the resumption of the Six Party Talks.  The statement essentially defers to the UNSC Presidential Statement that deplored the sinking, but did not blame the DPRK for any involvement.

Yonhap reports:

It also voiced support for the U.N. Security Council’s presidential statement adopted earlier this month on the deadly sinking of the warship Cheonan in March, which left 46 sailors dead.

If the draft is adopted in its current form, it would be in line with earlier statements issued by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other multilateral frameworks earlier this week.

The U.N. statement did not name North Korea as the culprit, nor did it directly blame North Korea. The draft only condemned the attack that led to the sinking of the ship.

In the draft, the ministers also “stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and called on all concerned parties to resolve all disputes by peaceful means.”

The ministers also “reaffirmed their support for the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and encouraged the parties to return to the six-party talks in due course,” and spoke of the need to fully implement relevant U.N. resolutions, according to the draft.

The DPRK’s media presence was established by Ri Tong Il.  In one appearance Ri said that US-ROK joint exercises were “another act of hostility against the North.”  JoongAng Ilbo reports:

Addressing the journalists at the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) yesterday, Ri continued to insist that the North had nothing to do with the sinking of the Cheonan warship in March, adding that Pyongyang’s Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun has made an appeal to the forum’s participants to stress the North’s innocence.

He also said Pak spoke about the need to replace the Korean War armistice with a peace treaty. “The worsened tensions on the peninsula proved the danger posed by an armistice that continued for 60 years,” Ri said. “It proves that a peace treaty is desperately needed.”

A North Korean representative looks intently at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she passes him in the National Convention Center in Hanoi, where the Asean Regional Forum is being held from July 19 to 23. (Yonhap)

Ri’s remarks came while sanctions against DPRK bank accounts were publicly announced.  One source said in Korea Herald of this latest incarnation of the battle of the beancounters, “this time it’s going to be a surgical strike.”  Hong Kong also announced that it will be enforce US sanctions.  Korea Times reports:

Regarding this, Hong Kong’s financial authorities are considering an audit of North Korea’s state-run firms operating in Southeast Asia, including Taepung International Investment Group, whose main mission is to attract foreign investment for the North’s economic projects, another source said.

The probe will focus on revealing whether the firms engaged in illegal deals and stashed slush funds are in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874, which were adopted after the North’s missile and nuclear tests in 2005 and 2009 to ban its arms exports, transactions linked to its nuclear and atomic activities.

“The U.S. sanctions against North Korea will address its illegal and suspicious overseas activities on a wide range of areas,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a press release.

“We expect the measures to include stopping the supply of cash earned from arms sales and illegal deals to Pyongyang, banning suspicious figures from traveling overseas and looking into involvement of diplomats in illicit activities.”

In Hanoi, Ri Tong Il had this to say of the sanctions, according to Xinhua:

The new sanctions the United States will impose on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) violated a UN statement issued after the sinking of a South Korean warship, a DPRK spokesman said Thursday.

Ri Tong Il, a spokesman for the DPRK delegation at the ASEAN Regional Forum, said the measures announced by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were in violation of the July 9 UN statement.

Meanwhile, on the Peninsula, working-level, field-grade (Colonel) talks between the UN Command the DPRK proposed another meeting to discuss whether the Cheonan sinking constitutes a violation of the armistice agreement.  ROK President Lee Myung-bak is considering humanitarian aid to the DPRK “in a big frame“:

“President Lee said such a humanitarian aid should continue and stressed more active assistance is necessary to help North Korea,” she said.

The spokeswoman did not elaborate further, but participants in the meeting quoted the president as saying, “I felt ashamed when I was told by a top Vietnamese official that North Korea asked for food aid from Vietnam.”

Lee was also quoted as saying that he believes North Korea has the potential to become more prosperous than China.

And in the DPRK Korean Central TV reported that Kim Jong Il ordered the KPA Air Force Command to rescue North Korean citizens stranded by a flood:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dispatched his country’s air force to save dozens of people stranded by flash floods, official media reported Friday, as heavy rains continued to pound the communist state prone to natural disasters.

According to the North’s Korean Central Television station, at least 283 millimeters of rain — the heaviest in the country — hit the northwestern area of Unsan between Wednesday and Thursday. Forty people, including 10 women, were stranded on a hill sieged by swelling water when the “Dear Leader” ordered air force troops to fly there to rescue the residents, the station reported.

“Four airplanes carrying out his great love flew without hesitation” to Unsan and two other areas also troubled by floods, saving a total of 68 people, including children, it said.

The report did not elaborate how air force equipment, including helicopters, was used in the operations. It did, however, say that those trapped in Unsan were “pulled up one by one” while air force pilots flew back and forth to save a woman and two children that had failed to board the planes.

Those rescued “looked up toward the skies over Pyongyang and shouted ‘hail to Dear General’ at the top of their voices to salute him with gratitude,” the station said.

DPRK Foreign Minister Departs for ASEAN Regional Forum

Vietnamese riding motorbikes pass by flags of countries and organizations participating the 43rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, July 19, 2010. (Xinhua/Chen Duo)

DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun arrived in Beijing, making his way to Hanoi to attend ASEAN’s regional forum on Friday (23 July).  KCNA announced Pak’s departure and his itinerary:

A DPRK delegation headed by Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun left here Tuesday to attend the ARF to be held in Hanoi and the Special Ministerial Meeting for MDGs Review in Asia and the Pacific to be held in Jakarta and visit Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia.

Prior to Pak’s arrival and possibly in a preemptive move against discussion of the Cheonan, as well as any rhetorical capering (not to mention any potential restroom interactions) by the DPRK delegation, Xinhua reports on an ASEAN spokesperson invoking the Six-Party Talks (whose resumption is a dim prospect):

Ministers attending the 43rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting expressed the support for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and encouraged the parties concerned to resume the six-party talks as soon as possible, said the meeting’s spokesman Tran Ngoc An at a news briefing here. “The six-party talks will be a main solution for long-term peace in peninsula,” said An.

ASEAN foreign ministers also expressed their support for the declaration of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) earlier this month on the Cheonan warship sinking, which cost the lives of 46 South Korean sailors, said An.

ASEAN foreign ministers extended condolences to the people and government of the Republic of Korea for their loss, said the spokesman

The foreign ministers called for parties involved to remain restraint, increase confidence and resolve disputes and disagreements through peaceful methods, said the spokesman.

In reporting on Pak Ui Chun’s arrival in China, Kyodo pointed out that his trip to Myanmar (Burma) from 29 July to 1 August will be the first by a DPRK foreign minister since the 1983 Rangoon (Yangon) bombing.  Irawaddy notes that weapons and tunnel contracts may not be the only exchange between the two countries:

It is interesting to note how soon the regime’s quest for ever more sophisticated weaponry took it in the direction of North Korea. According to Maung Aung Myoe, the Burmese generals began secret talks with the reclusive Communist regime to buy Hwasong (Scud-type) missiles as early as 2003. Although it remains unclear if the regime ever actually acquired these missiles, military analysts note that Burma has received a number of suspicious shipments from North Korean vessels over the past few years.

This North Korean connection appears to have done more than just provide the junta with another arms supplier. Increasingly, Naypyidaw seems to be considering Pyongyang’s brand of belligerent diplomacy as the basis for its foreign policy, possibly as a backup plan to ensure its survival if the upcoming election and transition to “disciplined democracy” fail to silence its Western critics.

UNSC Statement Accuses Nobody in Cheonan; KPA Accepts Invitation for Working Level Talks W/US Military over Cheonan

The United Nations Security Council has generated a consensus statement that “condemns the attack which led to the sinking of the Cheonan. . .appropriate and peaceful measures [should] be taken against those responsible.”  The statement does not identify North Korea as responsible for the 26 March 2010 sinking of the ROK naval corvette.  The UNSC presidential statement acknowledges North Korea’s repeated and vociferous denials of its involvement.

The statement has been agreed to by the UNSC five permanent nation states– the US, the ROK, France, the UK, Russia and China.  Agreement to the presidential statement comes after China editorialized about US-ROK military exercises in the neighborhood, and several days after Russia postponed the announcement of the finding of its own investigation.

Korea Herald reports:

Pyongyang continues to deny any involvement.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said it “welcomed” the statement, which was unanimously agreed upon.

“The statement has significant meaning in that the international community has denounced North Korea with a unified voice, and stressed the importance of preventing future provocations on South Korea,” said Kim Young-sun, the ministry spokesman.

After more than a month of closed-door discussions, the U.S. announced Thursday that the five permanent council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — as well as South Korea and Japan had reached agreement on the text.

Presidential statements must be approved by the full council.

While such documents may not have the clout of resolutions, they do become part of the Security Council’s record.

Korea Times reports on an obtained copy of the resolution draft:

The council is scheduled to be convened Friday morning (local time) in a formal meeting to vote on the proclamation.

Rice described the statement as “a very clear and appropriate response,” adding that the step “shows the council’s unity in confronting threats to peace and security.”

“It underscores the importance of preventing further attacks and emphasizes the critical need to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the larger region,” she said.

A draft version of the statement that The Korea Times obtained expresses the Security Council’s “deep sympathy and condolences,” deploring the loss of 46 South Korean sailors, purportedly killed by a North Korean submarine’s torpedo attack near the maritime border in the West Sea.

The statement, however, does not directly blame North Korea for the naval attack, though an international joint civilian-military investigation team has concluded that Pyongyang was clearly culpable for the tragedy.

Experts from Australia, Britain, U.S., Sweden, and South Korea participated in the inquest.

The statement “expresses deep concern” over the investigators’ conclusion and calls for “appropriate and peaceful measures to be taken against those responsible,” but it also takes note of the fact that North Korea “has stated it had nothing to do with the incident.”

The ROK’s Vice Minister for Unification, Um Jong-sik, is asking that North Korea “punish troops responsible” for the sinking of the Cheonan.  It is not clear which “troops” Vice Minister Um’s remarks intend to indicate–whether he is alluding to a senior National Defense Commission manager (such as Reconnaissance Bureau chief Lt. Gen. Kim Yong Chol), or personnel (such as the submarine’s crew) who sunk the Cheonan as the result of a slipshod tactical command decision.

A senior South Korean official called on North Korea on Friday to apologize for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship and punish those involved in it, as the U.N. Security Council drew close to a statement condemning the attack that caused the tragedy.

“North Korea must apologize for the deaths of 46 of our young men” and punish troops involved in the sinking that took place in the Yellow Sea on March 26, Vice Unification Minister Um Jong-sik said in a speech to a group of former ministry officials.

The 15-member Security Council agreed earlier on a draft statement condemning the attack that caused the 1,200-ton Cheonan to sink, but came short of explicitly blaming North Korea.

The North, which denies its role in the sinking, has threatened war should the Council blame the communist state for it.

Um said his government is determined to hold North Korea accountable for the sinking even if that would cause their relations to deteriorate temporarily.

“Only when we undergo this kind of process can we take a step forward in sound inter-Korean relations,” he said.

The Korean People’s Army is proposing a working-level (Colonel) military meeting with the US to discuss the Cheonan investigation.  This is North Korea’s counter-proposal to the US, which had proposed a meeting of this kind in June to explain the results of the official investigation to the North Koreans.

North Korea on Friday offered to hold working-level military talks with the United States next week to set up a higher-level meeting over the sinking of a South Korean warship, Pyongyang’s state media said.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the country sent a proposal to the U.S. military Friday requesting that colonel-level officers from the two sides meet July 13 to discuss setting up general-grade talks on the March sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

The North said it decided to hold talks with the U.S. military over the issue because South Korea had turned down its dialogue offer. The North said it “still regards the opening of the North-South military talks as the best way for settling the issue,” according to the KCNA.

The U.S. military had offered to hold military talks with the North in June to explain the outcome of a multinational investigation that found the communist regime responsible for the attack that killed 46 sailors.

Friday’s offer from the North was a counteroffer to the June proposal, the KCNA said.

Top: A North Korean delegation led by Lt. Gen. Kim Yong-chol (front center) crosses the military demarcation line to attend an inter-Korean military meeting at Panmunjom on Dec. 14, 2007, accompanied by Pak Rim-su (second from left), Ri Son-gwan (left) and Pak Ki-yong (right). Bottom: Pak Ki-yong, Pak Rim-su and Ri Son-gwan (from left) talk at a press conference about the Cheonan sinking in Pyongyang on Friday. (KCNA & Yonhap)

No UNSC Movement on Cheonan

Photo: Yonhap

With China’s position unchanged, and the Russian investigation being finalized this week, the United Nations Security Council has yet to reach a decision about penalizing the DPRK for its role in the sinking of the ROK naval corvette Cheonan in March of this year.  It is starting to seem the most the ROK can hope to attain from the USNC  is “at least a  Chairman’s statement condemning the North’s provocation.”  Russia announced last week (1 July) that its own investigation “was finalizing a conclusive report” based in part on evidence shared by the ROK Government’s official investigation.

Chosun Ilbo reports:

But China, another permanent member, continues to block any term or phrase that would point directly to its ally North Korea as the culprit.

A diplomatic source on Monday said UNSC members feel under pressure to reach some kind of decision. No regulations stipulate that cases at the UNSC are dropped unless they are handled by a certain deadline, but if discussion is delayed indefinitely due to deadlock caused by China’s opposition, the Cheonan case could be put on the back burner indefinitely since the council has a heavy load of other cases.

Some government officials are talking about getting China to abstain from voting on a resolution, if it is realistically difficult to persuade all permanent members to adopt a chairman’s statement. China faces criticism that a veto would amount to tacit support of North Korea’s armed attack on the Cheonan.

A Foreign Ministry official said, “It’s true that the situation hasn’t turned out as we expected. But if we give the impression that we’re pressed for time it may put us at a disadvantage in negotiations.”

North Korea’s denials about the Cheonan have reached the country’s embassy in Laos.  In a recent meeting with a Laotian official DPRK Ambassador Han Bong Ho denied the country’s involvement.  It seems the DPRK Embassy requested the meeting, after ROK Ambassador to Laos, Lee Gun-tae, brief ed Laotian officials in June about the ROK’s multi-national investigation.

Ambassador Han Bong-ho dismissed the conclusions of a Seoul-led multinational probe that accused North Korea of the deadly sinking of the Cheonan, the Laotian official said.

“The South Koreans say we fired a torpedo, but they don’t know where the torpedo came from, or whether the torpedo has been there from before,” Han was quoted as saying, repeating his government’s demands that the two Koreans conduct a joint investigation on the incident.

Han probably meant to say that “if North Korea had intended to strike the Cheonan, then it would have fired not one torpedo but several,” the Laos official said.

And it seems DPRK diploreps are taking their angry denials to the WC.  At the 11 June World Cup Opening Ceremony,  DPRK Ambassador to South Africa, An Hui Jong, followed ROK Ambassador to South Africa, Kim Han-soo, into a bathroom remarking, “If (the South) keeps acting like this, we won’t let thing pass either.”

The June 11 encounter between the two envoys took place in a bathroom during the opening ceremony of the World Cup football finals at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, after South Africa invited foreign ambassadors to football’s premier event, according to the source.

“If (the South) keeps acting like this, we won’t just let things pass, either,” the North’s ambassador, An Hui-jong, told South Korea’s Ambassador Kim Han-soo while holding Kim by the arm after following him into the bathroom, according to the source who requested anonymity.

The North’s envoy “spoke in a threatening way,” the source said.

China Reiterates Call To “Reduce Tensions”

President Lee Myung-bak (center), Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (left) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao give a joint news conference after their trilateral summit on Jeju Island on Sunday. (Yonhap News)

After meeting with ROK President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated his country’s neutral position on the DPRK’s role in the sinking of the Cheonan.  Lee Chi-dong reports from Jeju Island:

Wen said the Northeast Asian nations should make joint efforts for peace and stability in the region, repeating his government’s steadfast stance in dealing with North Korea.

“We must promote peace and stability in the Northeast Asian region through every effort,” Wen said. “We should be considerate of each other on a grave issue, deal reasonably with a sensitive matter and strengthen political trust.”

Wen’s remarks, which steered clear of any direct mention of North Korea, indicated that Beijing’s position has not changed much on the communist neighbor or the sunken ship.

Xinhua reports:

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday calls for proper handling of the fallout from the March sinking of a South Korean warship and gradually defusing tensions over the incident. “The pressing task for the moment is to properly handle the serious impact caused by the Cheonan (the South Korean warship) incident, gradually defuse tensions over it, and avoid possible conflicts,” Wen said.

Wen was speaking at a joint press conference following a two-day summit meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on the South Korean resort island.

Wen said efforts should be made to help steer the situation toward a direction which is conducive to peace and stability in the region.

Peace and stability are a precondition for the development in the region, otherwise regional development would be impossible, he warned.

China will continue keeping close communication with South Korea over the Cheonan incident, he said.

Kim So-hyun reports in Korea Herald:

Wen apparently faces renewed pressure from both Seoul and Tokyo to join in blaming the North for its latest naval attack on the South.

“China will make proactive efforts for closer communication and seek to tackle the (Cheonan) issue in a direction that promotes peace and stability of the Northeast Asian region,” Wen said during his speech concluding the summit.

“Without continued efforts for regional peace and security as the precondition, hard-earned progress in other areas of trilateral cooperation will disappear.”

Noting that “resolving the tension and repercussions of the Cheonan case” was the “most pressing” security task now, the Chinese leader stressed that “a collision must be avoided.”

Wen added that the three countries must closely discuss important issues, deal with sensitive matters in a proper way and solidify political trust.

President Lee said during his speech that “resolute, due procedures” must be taken in response to the alleged attack on the South Korean naval ship.

“As responsible members of the international community, Japan and China are expected to wisely cooperate in dealing with the Cheonan case,” Lee said.

“We hope to overcome the difficult times with such cooperation and seek our goal of achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula and peaceful unification.”

Meanwhile, according to Yonhap business dealings and other DPRK-PRC interactions have continued, including a recent meeting between a senior provinicial Chinese official and KJI cohort, North Pyongan Party boss Kim Pyong-hae.

China appears to be seeking greater economic cooperation with North Korea, despite tensions over the North’s sinking of a South Korean naval ship, as provincial officials exchange visits and Beijing’s top envoy calls for greater business ties.

Wang Min, a top communist party official in China’s northeastern province of Liaoning, visited North Korea on Thursday last week for economic cooperation talks, according to Chinese media reports published Sunday.

In a meeting with Kim Pyong-hae, a top communist party official in the North’s South Pyongan Province, Wang proposed that the two sides strengthen friendship through economic cooperation and seek mutual prosperity. Kim agreed to the proposal, according to the reports.

Wang’s delegation also toured a cosmetics factory and a kindergarten.

Kim was one of the North Korean officials who accompanied leader Kim Jong-il on his rare trip to China in early May.

Ahead of Wang’s trip, China’s ambassador to North Korea, Liu Hongcai, convened a meeting in Pyongyang of representatives of 14 Chinese entities investing in the North and called for expanding trade and investment in the communist neighbor, according to media reports.

DPRK stamps commemorating KJI's visit to China

China Cheonan Position Unchanged After Lee-Wen Meeting

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak attend a welcome ceremony in Seoul May 28, 2010. Wen arrived in Seoul earlier Friday on his official visit to South Korea. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Kim Ji-hyun reports in Korea Herald that “China seemed unready to side with Seoul” regarding the conclusions of the Cheonan investigation, after a meeting Friday (28 March) between ROK President Lee Myung-bak and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

The two Koreas appeared to be jockeying to attain Chinese support on the sinking of the Cheonan, for which a multinational investigation team said the North was accountable.

Seoul’s best bet is to persuade China with the help of the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

Beijing has so far maintained a neutral stance, saying it was still assessing the results of the multinational investigation.

China seemed unready to side with Seoul.

During a summit with President Lee Myung-bak on Friday, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said Beijing will not protect anyone regarding the South Korean ship’s sinking.

Wen stressed that China will clear its position after scrutinizing the (Cheonan) case in an objective and fair manner in consideration of the international community’s response to the probe.

South Korea hopes to punish Pyongyang riding on the back the U.N. To do that, Beijing’s vote will be essential since it is a veto-wielding nation among the five permanent members of the council.

One veto would mean no new resolution for penalizing Pyongyang, as all permanent members need to reach a unanimous vote, according to those close to the matter.

Xinhua’s English service is a general reiteration of previous Chinese statements reacting to the Cheonan:

Wen, who arrived here earlier in the day on a three-day official visit, made the comments during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

He said that China has always stood for maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and worked persistently for this end.

China always opposes and condemns any acts detrimental to peace and stability on the peninsula, he said.

Wen said that as a responsible country, China takes serious note of the results of a joint investigation by South Korea and other countries, as well as the reactions of all parties.

Premier Wen urges all parties to keep calm and show restraint, so as to prevent a deterioration of the situation, especially possible clashes in a joint effort to maintain the hard-won peace and stability on the Peninsula.

Wen said that all concerned parties should take a long-term perspective, actively promote the process of the six-party talks in a bid to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and achieve lasting peace and stability on the Peninsula.

He said that China hopes the South Korean government will properly handle the warship sinking incident and that China will keep close communication with South Korea on the issue.

Lee Chi-dong reports in Yonhap on another opportunity for LMB to present his arguments to the PRC:

Beijing’s priority for Korean policy, analysts say, is to keep its neighbor stable and comfortably under control.

Japan, the United States and many Western nations have expressed their belief in the investigation’s outcome and their support for Seoul’s decision to seek international action.

South Korean officials said the Lee-Wen meeting was part of South Korea’s all-out diplomacy to get Beijing aboard and make North Korea pay the price for its attack.

Friday’s talks precede an annual three-way summit that will also involve Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. The summit is to be held on Jeju Island over the weekend and is also expected to be dominated by the sinking of the warship.

Russia Will Not Pursue Cheonan Matter at UNSC

ITAR-TASS reports that Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that it will not pursue the Cheonan matter or support its introduction at the UN Security Council.

Russia will not bring the South Korean corvette Cheonan sinking incident to the attention of the U.N. Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.Nor will Russia support any attempt to raise this issue in the U.N. Security Council until it gets 100 percent proof that the ship was sunk by North Korea.

“We should receive the 100 percent proof of North Korea’s involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan corvette,” Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov said on Wednesday.

“Our specialists are studying the investigation materials,” he added.

“We have to make our own conclusions regarding the incident. This is whey everything will depend on the situation and the proof,” the diplomat said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin met with South Korean Ambassador in Moscow Lee Yoon-Ho on Monday to discuss the matter.

“Lee Yoon-Ho informed [the Russian side] of the contents of the appeal by President of the Republic of Korea Lee Myung-bak to the nation in connection with the publication of the results of the investigation by the commission of the circumstances of the sinking of the Navy ship Cheonan in the Yellow Sea on March 26, 2010,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Borodavkin assured the South Korean ambassador that “the Russian side will study the contents of the presidential appeal most thoroughly”.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on Saturday telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to inform him of the results of the investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan.

The South Korean foreign minister stressed that the evidence gathered indicate that the Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo.

Lavrov expressed condolences in connection with the incident and assured his South Korean counterpart that “Russia will study the materials of the investigation and information on the incident coming from other sources most thoroughly”.

He stressed the need “for all interested parties to show restraint and caution in order to avoid an escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula”.

Meanwhile Yomiuri Shimbun reports on Japan’s scrutiny of Chongryon, the beginning of other measures taken by the government:

Increased surveillance of financial transfers from Japan to North Korea is among the additional sanctions being considered by the government in response to North Korea’s torpedoing of a South Korean warship in March, government sources said.

The move would come in addition to tighter regulations on reentry to Japan by senior officials of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) who travel to North Korea. The Cabinet plans to finalize those measures on Friday at the earliest, the sources said.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told South Korean President Lee Myung Bak during a telephone call Monday evening that Japan supports Seoul’s punitive measures against North Korea, announced by the president earlier in the day.

“North Korea is a clear concern that threatens not only South Korea but also Japan,” Hatoyama reportedly told Lee. “Japan is considering its own sanctions against Pyongyang.”

The government’s Security Council of Japan held a meeting earlier Monday, at which Hatoyama and key Cabinet ministers discussed possible responses to North Korea’s sinking of the naval vessel Cheonan in the Yellow Sea on March 26, in which 46 sailors perished.

Hatoyama, who chairs the council, expressed strong support for South Korea. He instructed key Cabinet ministers to discuss sanctions against North Korea and to plan for cooperation with the United States and South Korea at the U.N. Security Council.

The prime minister also told the ministers to swiftly enact a bill enabling special measures on cargo inspection, and to expand information-gathering efforts in the interest of securing public safety.

South Korean officials arrive at the inter-Korean border office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday after being expelled by the North from the Gaeseong industrial park. North Korea on Wednesday threw out eight South Korean government officials from their joint venture in Gaeseong in a stern response to Seoul’s move to punish the communist state for the deadly sinking of a naval warship. (Ahn Hoon, The Korea Herald)

Shin Hae-in reports in Korea Herald on the expulsion of eight (8) ROK government officials from Kaesong:

The North also threatened to take measures to “totally ban the passage of personnel and vehicles” from the western section of the border, a move that could completely halt operations in the joint industrial park in Gaeseong.

Considered the last remaining symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas, the Gaeseong complex houses about 110 South Korean firms and is the sole source of income for at least 100,000 North Korean laborers and their family members.

North Korea also notified that it was cutting off the hotline with South Korea at their truce village and their maritime communication links, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.

HRC in ROK

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped in to Seoul, to meet with and provide a US show of support for ROK President Lee Myung-bak, and South Korea, following the conclusion of the Cheonan investigation, and recent regional teeth-gnashing by the two Koreas.  Lee Chi-dong reports for Yonhap:

Clinton met with the president during her brief stop in Seoul after arriving from Beijing as tensions run high on the peninsula after Seoul accused the North last week of sinking its 1,200-ton patrol ship March 26, killing 46 sailors. A team of multinational investigators said the ship was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine that sneaked into the South’s waters.

In her 50-minute meeting with Lee, Clinton was quoted as saying her trip here was intended to show Washington’s “clear and unmistakable support” for Seoul as an ally, according to the aides.

Clinton agreed with Lee that “strategic patience” is necessary, the senior secretary said in a press briefing.

She also expressed support for South Korea’s “balanced and prudent response from a long-term perspective,” he said.

Lee and Clinton did not confine the patience approach to just the sunken ship only, but also applied it to the overall situation involving North Korea. “I think they were pointing out that time is on our side,” he said.

Korea Herald reports further about the Clinton-Lee joint appearance.  During their appearance, President Lee remarked that China, which maintains its neutral position, “cannot ignore the truth.”

“We believe that this is in everyone’s interest including China’s to make a persuasive case for North Korea to change direction,” she said in a joint press conference with Yu.

In the long term, Clinton said, such measures would give North Korea an opportunity to “look internally to what they can do to improve the standing of their own people and provide a different future.”

She added that her recent consultations with China showed that Beijing understands the seriousness of the Cheonan issue.

Yu said while it would take more time to persuade China and Russia — both nations enjoying close relations with Pyongyang — the truth will speak for itself.

“They cannot ignore the truth,” he said.

As Pyongyang’s closest ally, China has so far maintained a neutral stance regarding the sinking and ensuing investigation.

It received last week’s probe results with no particular comment, saying only that Beijing wants to sustain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

China’s vote will be critical in pursuing a U.N. resolution against North Korea because it stands as a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council.

Clinton arrived in Seoul earlier in the day after wrapping up a trip to Japan and China.

Jung Sung-ki writes in Korea Times about the road ahead at the UNSC:

She stressed the international community has an obligation to respond to the attack on the Cheonan and promised to put forward the matter in the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).

China and Russia, both veto-wielding permanent members of the UNSC, remain neutral over the findings of the Joint Military-Civil Investigation Group that included 24 foreign experts from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Canada.

China’s role, in particular, would be decisive in taking action against North Korea at the UNSC because it is the North’s primary source of economic and military aid.

Clinton said China “understands the seriousness” of this issue and is willing to listen to the concerns expressed both by South Korea and the United States.

Despite Secretary Clinton’s visit to Beijing, as well Cabinet- and diplorep-level interactions between the ROK and PRC, China is maintaining its neutral stance.  Xinhua English reports:

“China considers that international and regional matters should be handled in an objective and fair manner and based on facts,” said Jiang.

“Under current circumstance, any measure taken by any side should be conducive to peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, not to the contrary,” she said.

Jiang said China has always been committed to maintaining stability in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula, promoting the six-party talks and denuclearization of the Peninsula.

“It is better to have dialogue rather than engaging in confrontation, and an eased situation is better than tension,” she said.

To safeguard peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia is in the common interests of all parties and is a shared responsibility of all countries in the region.

“China is resolutely against any behavior which is in violation of peace and stability in Northeast Asia,” she said.

Barbara Demick writes in the LA Times:

The Chinese already have signaled their reluctance to punish North Korea, infuriating both the South Koreans and the Americans.

“It is disgusting the way the Chinese just sit on their hands and do nothing. This backward and clumsy behavior is not fitting their supposed place as the predominant power in Asia,” said Victor Cha, a former National Security Council Asia director who now is at a Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

China’s cooperation is important because it can block or water down any U.N. resolution by virtue of its permanent seat on the Security Council and because almost everything North Korea imports or exports has to cross China’s borders.

North Korea shows no signs of flinching in what is increasingly a battle of nerves with South Korea.

Pyongyang issued a flurry of threats during the day. It accused South Korea of dispatching “dozens” of warships across the maritime border and said that it would “put into force practical military measures to defend its waters.”

Choe Sang-hun and Mark Ladler write on the Clinton trip in the NYT/IHT:

She acknowledged a complicated task facing Washington and Seoul when she said the allies have to work on two tracks simultaneously. She spoke of the “immediate crisis” of the sinking that “requires a strong but measured response” and of a “longer-term challenge of changing the direction of North Korea, making a convincing case to everyone in the region to work together to achieve that outcome, denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, and offering the opportunities for a better life for the people of the North.”

North Korea has denied any role in the sinking of the ship and the loss of 46 South Korean sailors.

She also endorsed President Lee’s “right approach” in trying to avoiding “escalation and a broader conflict” while seeking international support to punish the North.

“The key word” during the South Korean leaders’ meetings with Mrs. Clinton was her strategy of “strategic patience,” said Lee Dong-kwan, President Lee’s spokesman.

Chosun Ilbo writes that recent events are creating the cultural conditions of  a “new Cold War”:

As soon as Seoul stepped up pressure, the North started a campaign of military brinkmanship, saying Monday it will aim and fire at loudspeakers broadcasting propaganda messages across the demilitarized zone. Experts say North Korea may seek to damage the South Korean economy by heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula through minor clashes along the heavily armed border or along the maritime buffer zone in the West Sea. The government is tasked with maintaining peace and security on the peninsula by containing any threat of North Korea aggression.

The new Cold War triggered by the North Korean torpedo attack has ramifications beyond inter-Korean relations. China would come under tremendous pressure if U.S. aircraft carriers converge on the West Sea for joint military exercises with South Korea while the two allies conduct maritime blockade drills. The torpedo has shattered the shared foundation that the U.S. and China had built up through the six-party nuclear talks. If Beijing-Washington relations sour, both North and South Korea stand to suffer the most.

A deteriorating security situation would inevitably lead to economic damage. The North Korean economy will suffer the heaviest blow since its overseas assets were frozen in 2005 through more UN Security Council sanctions plus U.S. financial sanctions on top of severed trade with South Korea. But the South Korean economy will suffer as well.

Without wishing to sound flip, the Cold War never ended in NE Asia.  Dr. Sheila Miyoshi Jager wrote in a brilliant 2007 monograph for the US Army War College:

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to sustained efforts to rediscover and rewrite the past which, in East Asia, has included both the history of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), the Chinese Civil War (1945-49), and the Korean War (1950-53). Unlike in Europe, however, the Cold War has not ended in Asia.