Seoul, Dec 8 (DPA) The US sees a ‘very important’ role for China in dealing with escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as one of the few states to wield influence in Pyongyang, a US official said Wednesday.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the comment after meeting with South Korean military and political leaders Wednesday in Seoul, the South’s Yonhap News Agency reported.
China is one of the few remaining allies of the Stalinist state.
The US reiterated its support of South Korea, an official ally since the 1954 signing of a mutual defence treaty in the wake of the Korean War.
‘I want to certainly be here to commit and be very visible in the strength of that relationship,’ Mullen said.
First Vice Foreign Minister Shin Kak Soo said the admiral’s visit sent ‘stern messages to North Korea’. Mullen also met with recently appointed Defence Minister Kim Kwan Jin, and with his South Korean counterpart General Han Min Koo.
Discussions centred on how to respond to recent aggressive behaviour by North Korea.
On Nov 23, North Korean artillery fire struck the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong near the disputed maritime border, killing two soldiers and two civilians and injuring more than a dozen people.
The move came amid heightened tensions after the sinking of a South Korean navy corvette in March, with the loss of 46 lives, which Seoul blames on the North.
On Wednesday, the South Korean military reported hearing artillery fire within North Korea, another Yonhap report said. No shells were said to have landed south of the border and the sounds appeared to stem from routine drills, an official from the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff was quoted as saying.
