John Kerry Looks to Peking for Help with North Korea

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Peking on Saturday to try to convince Chinese authorities to help hash out the difficulties between Seoul and Pyongyang during this “critical moment” of crisis between the two Koreas.

After a stop in Seoul, where he reaffirmed Washington’s full support for its South Korean ally, Kerry arrived in the Chinese capital, where he first talked with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi, before meeting with President Xi Jinping.

The U.S. and South Korea, as well as Japan, which was directly threatened Friday with a nuclear strike from Pyongyang, are looking to dissuade North Korea from continuing with the launch of one or several short- and medium-range missiles that would be able to set the Korean peninsula ablaze.

“Obviously there are enormously challenging issues in front of us, and I look forward to having that conversation with you today,” Kerry declared to his Chinese counterpart. Wang agreed that their meeting comes at a critical moment in the crisis.

In one year, Pyongyang has launched two rockets—with one succeeding in December—considered by the West as disguised ballistic missile attempts, and made one nuclear attempt on Feb. 12 that merited a new round of sanctions from the U.N.

Engaging in an escalation that has yet to be put in check and ignoring warnings from its Chinese neighbor, the North has recently deployed from its western coast two Musudan missiles with a potential range of 4,000 kilometers and the capacity to reach South Korea, Japan and even the American island of Guam.

The possible missile launch could take place on April 15, the day celebrating the birth of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung, according to experts.

Yet China, the only influential ally and economic supporter of North Korea, can and must use its influence to twist the latter’s arm before it does something irreparable, says the U.S.

“China has an enormous ability to help make a difference here, and I hope that in our conversations when I get there that we’ll be able to lay out a path ahead that can defuse this tension,” said John Kerry in a joint statement with South Korean president Park Geun-hye that was released before leaving Seoul.

“There is no group of leaders on the face of the planet who have more capacity to make a difference in this than the Chinese, and everybody knows it, including, I believe, them,” he added.

“Relations Between the North and South May Improve”

Without explicitly identifying North Korea, Chinese president Xi put Pyongyang on notice last week, urging it not to “throw [the Korean peninsula] into chaos.”

According to the head of French diplomacy, Laurent Fabius, who met with Chinese leaders Friday in Peking, they are “very concerned” about the situation. They assured him that “they will give the greatest effort to reduce tensions.”

Showing the firmness of Washington against these threats, John Kerry also gave his support to the olive branch Seoul had extended to Pyongyang.

President Park, who comes from a conservative right that has traditionally been hostile to the communist regime, announced that South Korea was open “to listening to what North Korea had to say” on Friday.

“President Park was elected with a different vision for the possibilities of peace, and we honor that vision,” he said “We hope that vision is one that will actually take hold here.”

As a peacemaking gesture, the U.S. blocked a test of an intercontinental missile in California last week. In the same spirit, John Kerry skipped a visit to the border village of Panmunjom in South Korea, where the treaty to end the Korean War (1950-1953) had been signed.

After China, John Kerry will go to Japan, threatened with “nuclear flames” on Friday night by North Korea after Tokyo deployed anti-missile batteries and ordered the army to destroy any North Korean missiles that threatened the Nippon territory.

Kerry indicated his hope that China, Japan and the U.S. would work together to come up with some “steps forward.” *

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov revealed himself to be favorable to six-party talks on North Korea in Switzerland, possibly Bern.

These discussions between China, South Korea, North Korea, Russia, the U.S. and Japan took place six times between 2003 and 2007, but Pyongyang announced its withdrawal from the 2009 round after receiving sanctions from the U.N. for its nuclear program.

* Editor’s note: The original quotation, while accurately translated, could not be verified.