The United States and South Korea said yesterday the would make North Korea pay the price for sinking a warship in March, and the US secretary of state promised to gather international support for such efforts on her current Asian tour. In Tokyo, Hillary Clinton said it was "important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences".
The South's defence minister, Kim Tae-young, a day after investigators reported overwhelming evidence that a North Korean submarine sank the South Korean navy vessel, said: "North Korea surpassed the limits and for such an act we will make it pay." At the start of an Asian tour that yesterday took her to Shanghai, ahead of planned stops in Beijing and Seoul, Mrs Clinton said she and Japan's foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, agreed the North must end its belligerence towards its neighbours.
"We cannot allow this attack to go unanswered by the international community," she said, adding that she looks forward to "intensive consultations in China". Mrs Clinton said the US, Japan, South Korea and China are consulting on an appropriate reaction to an international investigation that blamed North Korea for the incident. The attack on the Cheonan near the disputed border with the North on March 26 sparked outrage and grief in South Korea, but Seoul has apparently ruled out any military counterstrike for fear of triggering full-scale war.
President Lee Myung-Bak said after convening his first National Security Council meeting in almost a year: "This incident is so serious and grave an issue that we must be very cautious and prudent in handling it." Seoul is engaged in hectic diplomacy to win support for its bid to refer Pyongyang to the United Nations Security Council for punishment. The communist North, for the second time in two days, denied involvement and accused Seoul of faking the evidence. It has threatened "all-out war" in response to any attempt to punish it.
China, the North's ally and a veto-wielding Security Council member, would have to support or abstain in any move to tighten sanctions further. Unlike western nations and Japan, Beijing has so far failed to condemn the North and merely called for restraint by all sides. Next week in Beijing, Mrs Clinton and the US treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, are to lead the US delegation in two days of key talks with China on everything from trade disputes to the value of the yuan to the international standoff on Iran.
But that was before Thursday's release of the report which concluded that a North Korean sub had torpedoed the South Korean corvette, splitting the vessel in two and killing 46 sailors. Mrs Clinton's main task during her time in Beijing may be trying to persuade the Chinese to support UN Security Council action against North Korea. China has the most leverage over the reclusive regime, and Beijing's support for any international response to Pyongyang will be critical to its success.
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