Blinken Urges China to Convince NKorea to Denuclearize

World

March 18th, 8:09am

Asharq Al-Awsat

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong in Seoul on March 17. AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday pressed China to use its “tremendous influence” to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, hours after the North said it will ignore Washington’s offers to resume negotiations. Blinken spoke at the end of high-profile security talks in Seoul, which included Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean foreign and defense ministers. The so-called “two plus two” meeting, the first of its kind in five years, came as President Joe Biden is pushing to restore America’s alliances in Asia in the face of growing challenges from China and North Korea. “Beijing has an interest, a clear self-interest in helping to pursue denuclearization of (North Korea) because it is a source of instability. It is a source of danger and obviously a threat to us and our partners,” Blinken told a news conference. He said Beijing has “a critical role to play” to persuade North Korea to denuclearize because most of the North’s external trade goes through China. Blinken stressed that China is obligated by UN Security Council resolutions to fully enforce sanctions imposed over North Korea’s banned nuclear and missile tests. Earlier Thursday, Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s first vice foreign minister, confirmed Blinken’s previous announcement that Washington had reached out to Pyongyang through several channels starting in mid-February, but it hasn’t received any response. Choe called the US outreach a “time-delaying trick” and said North Korea would keep discarding similar offers for talks unless Washington withdraws its hostility. “What has been heard from the US since the emergence of the new regime is only a lunatic theory of ‘threat from North Korea’ and groundless rhetoric about ‘complete denuclearization,’” she said. Choe suggested that Washington's reported push to slap additional sanctions and pile pressure on North Korea, coupled with this month's US-South Korea military drills, are proof of US hostility.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2867116/blinken-urges-china-convince-nkorea-denuclearize