U.S. Seeks Korea Penalty, China's Help---from ABC News

U.S. Seeks Korea Penalty, China's HelpClinton Wants International Response to North's Torpedo Attack, but Officials See a Reluctant Beijing
By JAY SOLOMON in Shanghai and EVAN RAMSTAD in Seoul                Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a sharp warning to North Korea upon her arrival in Northeast Asia, saying the Obama administration will work with regional powers to punish Pyongyang for sinking a South Korean warship.
China may have other ideas:But the U.S. strategy could face stiff resistance from Beijing, said senior U.S. officials Friday as Mrs. Clinton arrived in the country for talks.
Beijing has so far displayed little interest in reprimanding its longstanding ally in Pyongyang. South Korea on Thursday revealed the results of an international investigation into the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan and formally blamed the North for torpedoing the patrol boat. China has tried to stay neutral so far and said it will conduct its own assessment about the cause of the sinking.

At an emergency national security meeting Friday, South Korea's President Lee, center, criticized N ...

The U.S., Japan and South Korea are all considering stiff bilateral economic and diplomatic penalties against the North, including potentially a new round of United Nations sanctions, and are coordinating their responses during Mrs. Clinton's visits to Tokyo and Seoul. U.S. officials traveling with Mrs. Clinton said a significant portion of the secretary's five-day mission to China will likely be focused on gaining Beijing's support.
"We cannot allow this attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community," Mrs. Clinton said earlier Friday in Tokyo, the first stop of her mission. "This will not be and cannot be business as usual. There must be an international, not just a regional, but an international response."
Mrs. Clinton also strongly backed the probe unveiled this week, by investigators from South Korea, the U.S., U.K., Australia and Sweden, that found pieces of an exploded North Korean torpedo near the ship's wreckage in the Yellow Sea.
"The evidence is overwhelming and condemning. The torpedo that sunk the Cheonan and took the lives of 46 South Korean sailors was fired by a North Korean submarine,'' Mrs. Clinton told reporters at a joint news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, in his first remarks since Seoul formally blamed the North, also sharply criticized Pyongyang for the attack. "Considering its seriousness and gravity, there must not be a single mistake when taking countermeasures," Mr. Lee said Friday at a meeting of South Korea's National Security Council, according to a statement released by his office. "We have to remain extraordinarily cautious."
South Korea is expected next week to request a review of the situation by the United Nations Security Council, in hopes of securing a censure or other penalties against the North. Officials in Seoul are also discussing cutting the remaining economic connections between the two countries—the largest an industrial park just north of the inter-Korean border where South Korean firms employ about 40,000 North Koreans.
U.S. lawmakers, meanwhile, are pressing the White House to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
North Korea's state media on Friday again denounced the investigation's findings and vowed retaliation if South Korea or other countries penalize it.
The prospect of armed conflict appears low, however. North Korea's military outnumbers the South's in personnel but has less firepower and ability to sustain itself in a fight. South Korea is constrained from taking military action by the proximity of Seoul, with a population of 12 million, to the North Korean border.
Senior U.S. officials say they are seeing no signs of Seoul preparing for any military action, though U.S. military forces in South Korea are on heightened alert for movements from either side. "We haven't seen evidence that this is the first step of going to war," said a senior U.S. official traveling with Mrs. Clinton.
South Korea's defense minister said Friday the country will re-examine its entire force structure and positioning. It may seek a joint naval exercise later this year with its U.S. ally, adding to the two major drills they conduct annually.
Mrs. Clinton's arrival in Shanghai late Friday marked what the Obama administration views as a key opportunity to promote U.S.-China relations.
Mrs. Clinton will tour Shanghai's world's fair and will co-lead, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the U.S. delegation to the second annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue with China's leadership in Beijing. The Obama administration's team of more than 200 U.S. officials includes Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

Clinton greets Jon Huntsman, U.S. ambassador to China, upon her arrival in Shanghai on Friday.

U.S. officials said they hoped to utilize the SED to harmonize the U.S.-China position on addressing the global economic crisis and bilateral trade imbalances.They also are seeking to forge common ground with Beijing on key environmental, energy and technology issues.
But officials traveling with Mrs. Clinton acknowledged that the North Korea issue could end up dominating the discussion with the Chinese leadership on Monday and Tuesday.
Washington and Seoul have been troubled by China's silence on the Cheonan issue to date. Beijing waited nearly a month after the vessel's sinking before extending its condolences to South Korea. Chinese President Hu Jintaoalso  hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Beijing last month and didn't offer any indication of raising the Cheonan issue.
China has by far the most leverage over North Korea due to the two countries' longstanding military and economic alliance. In the past, the U.S. has pushed Beijing to cut energy subsidies to Pyongyang to protest North Korea's continued work on its nuclear arsenal. But China has always balked at applying too much pressure on Pyongyang due to fear North Korea's instability could affect eastern China.
U.S. officials said Friday that the recklessness of the North Korean act required China to end its position of neutrality, and that they plan to press China to take a firm stance.
Already, there are signs that the Korean standoff is affecting Northeast Asia's security balance. U.S. and Japanese negotiators are seeking to reach consensus by the end of the month on the future status of U.S. Marines stationed at the Futenma base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
The two allies have been a loggerheads over the future of the base amid domestic Japanese opposition to basing U.S. troops there. But U.S. officials said Friday that the Korean crisis appears to be softening Tokyo's position on the importance of keeping U.S. soldiers in Japan.
"In the current environment, the presence of U.S. forces is indispensable" for regional security, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said following his meeting with Mrs. Clinton.