LOC13:18
10:18 GMT
TOKYO, June 24 (KUNA) -- China has told South Korea that it will no longer
take the side of its traditional ally North Korea if Pyongyang makes
additional provocations after tensions spiked over the North's two deadly
attacks on the South last year, President Lee Myung-bak was quoted Friday as
saying, Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday.
"China delivered its intentions (to South Korea) that it won't stand by the
North if it makes an additional provocation," Lee made the remark during a
lunch meeting with members of the parliamentary defense committee Thursday, a
lawmaker who participated in the meeting said, according to Yonhap. It was
unclear when China delivered the position.
China is the North's last-remaining major ally and has propped up the
impoverished, provocative neighbor with food and energy assistance and
diplomatic support.
Beijing has long been criticized for trying to protect Pyongyang even when
the regime makes grave provocations, such as last year's sinking of a South
Korean warship and the shelling of a border island that killed a total of 50
South Koreans.
The North's attacks last year sent the already frayed relations between the
two Koreas plunging to their lowest levels in decades, clouding the prospects
of resuming the long-stalled six-party talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear
programs.
Lee also called for the parliamentary committee to endorse a series of
defense reform bills this month, saying that if the envisioned reform had been
implemented earlier, the South could have struck back at the North at the time
of the artillery attack, according to the report. (end)
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KUNA 241318 Jun 11NNNN