简体中文
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who arrived here on Thursday for his second trip to South Korea in the past year, reiterated his position that the Democratic People' s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will not be accepted as a nuclear state, hoping Seoul and Tokyo could resolve tensions.
"Let me be clear. The United States will not accept North Korea (DPRK) as a nuclear state. It will not accept talks for the sake of talks," Kerry said during a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se. It was the fifth dialogue between top diplomats of the two allies since Kerry took office a year earlier.
Kerry's visit came in line with the agreement reached with Yun on Jan. 7 when the top South Korean envoy went to Washington. At that time, Kerry and Yun agreed to deepen consultations on the DPRK issue. Since then, several U.S. diplomats, including deputy U. S. Secretary of State William Burns, had visited Seoul.
Kerry said the DPRK had yet to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization, urging Pyongyang to take real action to prove its authenticity. "We have yet to see evidence that North Korea is prepared to meet its obligations and negotiate the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
To resume the six-party talks, Kerry said that Pyongyang should show its sincerity first toward denuclearization.
"The DPRK issue must have been top priority in talks between Kerry and Yun," Kim Hyun-wook, professor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, told Xinhua. "The South-North reunification issue may have been an important issue during the talks as Kerry said at the Munich Security Conference two weeks ago that the U.S. can talk about the reunification with China."
South Korea was the first stop on Kerry's Asian tour, which will also take him to China, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. After wrapping up his schedules, Kerry will fly to Beijing for dialogue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Before holding talks with Yun, Kerry paid a courtesy call to South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Their meeting ran for around two hours, longer than earlier scheduled.
During the meeting, Park told Kerry that the reunified Korea will have no nuclear weapons and make an active contribution to regional peace and prosperity, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
The first South Korean woman leader said that the reunification will go beyond overcoming the divided Korean Peninsula and will create fresh future and growth engine in Northeast Asia, which will confer great benefits to neighboring countries.
In response, Kerry highly appreciated Park's vision of reunification "bonanza," saying that it is worth setting a high value on the vision as it went beyond the denuclearization issue to begin discussions on the future. The bonanza became a buzzword in the country after Park described the future reunification as such in her New Year's speech.
Meanwhile, the top U.S. diplomat confirmed the joint South Korea-U.S. war games will be conducted as scheduled. Kerry said during the press conference that "the United States does not believe that it is appropriate" to link the humanitarian event to the military matter, referring to the DPRK's call for the delay of the joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea scheduled to begin later this month.
The DPRK called on South Korea during the high-level talks held Wednesday at the truce village of Panmunjeom to postpone the South Korea-U.S. military drills until after the family reunion ends later this month. The first talks between high-ranking officials in around seven years ended without any tangible agreement. The two Koreas will resume the inter-governmental talks Friday at the same venue on the border dividing the Korean Peninsula.
Combined forces of South Korea and the United States will conduct the "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" war games from Feb. 24 to April 18, which overlap for two days with the family reunion event. The two Koreas will hold reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War from Feb. 20 to 25 at the DPRK's scenic resort of Mount Kumgang.
Kerry might have discussed strained ties between South Korea and Japan during his talks with President Park and Foreign Minister Yun, but the Cheong Wa Dae refused to mention it. The U.S. diplomat only told reporters that "it is up to Japan and the Republic of Korea to put history behind and move relations forward. "
At the joint press conference, the South Korean foreign minister said that it will be desirable for Japan to squarely face history and take sincere measures to gain trust from neighboring countries.
Ties have been strained between South Korea and Japan since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in late 2012. Abe paid respect last December to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines 14 World War II class-A war criminals. His visit infuriated neighboring countries, including South Korea and China, as it reminded people in Asia of Japan's colonial rule and war of aggression.
Kerry's visit to Seoul coincided with the announcement of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to South Korea and Japan in April. Obama may seek to help mend ties between the two U.S. allies as row between Seoul and Tokyo is not beneficial for the U.S. interests.
