South Korean President Park Geun Hye Asks Chinese President Xi Jinping To Cooperate With U.N. Sanctions Against North Korea
President Park Geun Hye asked her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to collaborate with the United Nations Security Council in taking up stern sanctions against North Korea for allegedly conducting a hydrogen bomb test last month.
The Blue House said Friday that the South Korean expressed that strong and effective sanctions from China would make North Korea change its plans. Park added that North Korea's provocations cause threat among Northeast Asian countries and the world, Yonhap News Agency noted Friday.
Reports revealed that President Park Geun Hye and President Xi Jinping talked over the phone on Friday and talked about measures in dealing wth North Korea's provocations. Their conversation lasted for 45 minutes, the Blue House added.
"Park stressed the need to deliver the international community's stern message to the North by adopting a strong and effective resolution to change the country at this time," the presidential office said in a dispatch, Korea Times reported Friday.
"In this respect, President Park asked President Xi to join the move to punish the North because China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and can exert its leverage on the North," the Blue House added.
It also said that the two leaders exchanged views on how to handle North Korea's reported plan to launch a long-range missile this month. Aside from that, they also tackled other matters involving their bilateral relations during the conversation.
On the other hand, the presidential office refused to give details on Xi's reaction to Park's request.
Further reports stated that China might have a significant influence on North Korea as the former is North's traditional collaborator. In addition, North Korea gets over 90 percent of its trade from China.
However, China favored tougher sanctions against North Korea when the latter conducted its third nuclear test in 2013.
Park and Xi's conversation came after North Korea announcement of its alleged plans to launch an earth observation satellite between February 8 and 25.
