Korea say NKorea must pay high price for nuclear test

“We believe that China has a special role to play, given the special relationship that it has with North Korea”, visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken told reporters in Seoul after meeting with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

South Korea and the United States are to share real-time military intelligence for the first time – to better prepare for North Korea’s missile threats, and possibly to enhance information sharing with ally Japan.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks during a joint briefing from the foreign, unification and defense ministries at the presidential house in Seoul, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016.

“Kim Jong Un’s blast has awakened the sleeping giant as far as North Korean issues”, said Halpin, a former adviser on Asian issues to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. A South Korean court said today it had acquitted a man of sympathising with North Korea for following its Twitter account, arguing that simply reading Pyongyang’s social media posts did not violate Seoul’s security laws.

“(South Korea) should seek various and creative approaches such as attempting five-way talks that exclude DPRK as well as six-party talks”, Park said.

The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China, began in 2003 as an effort to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programme in exchange for aid.

China is North Korea’s chief diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, but Beijing’s patience has worn thin with Pyongyang’s behaviour and unwillingness to rein in its nuclear weapons ambitions.

The North quit the dialogue process in 2009, ostensibly to protest sanctions imposed after a long-range rocket test.

The latest example is a video published on North Korean news site Uriminzokkiri on Saturday (Jan. 16), showing a recently returned woman named Son Ok-sun expressing her regrets at having defected to South Korea in 2000.

Park also stressed the significance of China’s role in making North Korea return to the global community, citing the recent example of Iran’s denuclearization.

North Korea has conducted four nuclear tests since 2006. Many governments and experts remain highly skeptical about the North’s claim, but whatever device North Korea detonated will likely push the country a step closer toward its goal of manufacturing a miniaturized warhead to place on a missile that can threaten the USA mainland.