China's cooperation a must as tension rises on Korean Peninsula
(From The Japan Times May 22 issue)

要約
朝鮮半島情勢緊迫、中国の重要な役割

South Korea announced May 20 that a torpedo fired from a small North Korean submarine caused the external underwater explosion that sank the 1,200-ton South Korean corvette Cheonan on March 26. It said no other explanation was plausible. Forty-six South Korean sailors died or went missing in the sinking. The announcement was based on an investigation by a team of experts from South Korea, the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden.

North Korea called the investigation results a "conspiratorial farce." But the evidence is strong. Torpedo parts recovered at the explosion site May 15 perfectly match the schematics of the CHT-02D 1.7-ton, 21-inch-diameter torpedo with a 250-kg explosive payload. The torpedo is included in the North’s brochure for weapons exports and the "No. 1" marking in the Korean alphabet on the propulsion section matches the marking on a previously obtained North Korean torpedo. The team said the torpedo exploded three meters away from the port side of the corvette’s engine room and six to nine meters below the sea surface.

North Korea reacted by saying that if South Korea takes retaliatory action, it will "answer with all-out war." South Korea will bring the matter to the U.N. Security Council, and scale down trade with and aid to the North. Sanctions against the North may be strengthened. The South’s actions may dwindle the North’s channel for obtaining foreign currencies. The nations concerned must strengthen cooperation to prevent the desperate North from trying to heighten military tension.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is the wish of every nation concerned and "will serve the interests of all the nations in the region." China, the chair of the six-party talks on the North’s nuclear weapons program, can exert influence on the North, which must rely on China economically following the devastation wrought by the unsuccessful redenomination of North Korea’s currency, the won, in November. The United States, Japan and South Korea must work to get China to dissuade the North from taking a belligerent path.

韓国政府は多国籍調査団の報告をもとに、北朝鮮の潜水艦が発射した魚雷の水中爆発が韓国海軍哨戒艦｢天安｣を沈没させたと発表した。これに対し北朝鮮は「捏造」だと反発したが、現場で回収された部品は北朝鮮の輸出兵器カタログに載った魚雷の設計図に示された部品に合致、北朝鮮独自のハングル表記も確認された。

北朝鮮は、韓国による報復行為には「全面戦争で応える」としている。韓国はこの問題を国連安保理に持ち込み、北朝鮮との貿易や援助を縮小する予定だ。対北制裁も強化されるかもしれない。6国協議の議長国である中国は、対中経済依存を深める北朝鮮に圧力をかけることができる。北朝鮮の挑発的行動を抑えるよう、日米韓は中国に働きかけるべきだ。