S KOREA: On a mission to Asia to consolidate international opinion against North Korea for testing a nuclear device, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice tried to calm regional fears about UN sanctions to the North and said she hoped a Chinese mission to Pyongyang would lead to a return to long-stalled six-party talks on the issue.
While Dr Rice was in Seoul, President Hu Jintao's special envoy in the North Korea nuclear crisis, Tang Jiaxuan, went to Pyongyang to meet the leader of the secretive Communist country, Kim Jong-il, and was expected to deliver a "very strong" message to Pyongyang not to conduct another nuclear test.
The envoy will also try to get Pyongyang to return to the Beijing-chaired six-party talks, which have been stalled for the past year after the United States imposed financial restrictions on North Korea. The talks bring together the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
Dr Rice renewed Washington's commitment to protect its staunch regional allies such as South Korea, just as she had in Tokyo a day earlier, in an attempt to ward off the prospect of a potentially devastating regional arms race.
Mindful of regional sensitivities, Dr Rice adopted a soothing tone, insisting that Washington was in the continent to heal, not harm.
"The idea that we would do something . . . that escalates tensions on the Korean peninsula or on the high seas for that matter could not be more wrong."
The US differs with both Seoul and China over the implementation of sanctions against North Korea. Seoul refuses to abandon two projects in the North, while China has taken exception to the idea of boarding North Korean vessels at sea.
Both China and South Korea are fearful that a heavy-handed approach to inspections of North Korean cargo will lead to military confrontations that could only exacerbate tensions in the Korean peninsula and China warned against "wilfully" expanding UN sanctions, saying they were balanced. "Sanctions are a signal, not the goal," said a foreign ministry spokesman.
China is also reluctant to put pressure on food and energy aid to North Korea, as it fears the collapse of the government. A senior state department official said no one wanted to see the collapse of North Korea. "Those countries who are worried about North Korea's collapse need to be as worried about a nuclear weapon."
Appearing with South Korea's foreign minister Ban Ki-moon, Dr Rice largely ignored differences with both Seoul and China on how sanctions should be implemented.
The next stage of her tour is China, where she is due to land today and which will prove the real test of her tour's mettle.
Beijing is expected to host foreign ministers from five countries - United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia and China - to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions during Dr Rice's visit.
The state department cast doubt on media reports that North Korea intended to conduct another nuclear test and had so informed China.
But that did not translate into optimism about the six-nation talks resuming, as North Korea still seems more intent on exacerbating the situation than resolving it.