South Korea urges China to sway North Korea

BEIJING, June 27 (Reuters) Visiting South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon today urged China to try to persuade North Korea not to test-fire a missile and discussed the stalled multilateral nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang.

US officials say there is evidence North Korea may have finished fuelling a Taepodong-2 missile for a test launch, which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have said would present a grave threat to regional security.

Mr Ban met his Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, who said efforts must focus on making sure North Korea does not launch the missile and that it returns to six-party talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear programmes.

Mr Li said China had expressed its concern to the North about the missile launch, South Korean Foreign Ministry official Lee Hyuk told reporters.

A traditional Communist ally of North Korea and host to the six-party talks, China is seen as having special leverage over the North, especially as the provider of about 70 per cent of its oil.

''We would like to ask that (China) try to persuade the North so that this issue can be resolved soundly,'' Lee quoted Ban as saying.

But Beijing's response has been more muted, urging all sides to ease tensions and resolve problems through negotiations.

''All sides should persist with dialogue and a peaceful resolution, avoid escalating tension and push forward the early resumption of six-party talks,'' State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan told Mr Ban, according to China's Xinhua news agency.

In a sign of its close relations with Pyongyang, China hosted North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun last month and a North Korean military delegation last week.

Analysts say China would be unlikely to use the threat of withholding aid to pressure North Korea, and that the North at any rate may not be swayed.

But Beijing would be wary of a missile launch that could destabilise the balance of power in the region and potentially spur militarisation in Japan, whose World War Two aggression still clouds relations with China.

''China doesn't like brinkmanship-style diplomacy,'' said Lai Hongyi, a scholar at Singapore's East Asia Institute.

Experts believe North Korea could launch a long-range ballistic missile, although the drawn-out waiting period has led to speculation the North is using the threat of a test to gain international attention and bargaining leverage with Washington.

But Pyongyang has made good on its threats in past.

In 1998 it shocked the world when it test-fired a missile that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean.

REUTERS SHB RN1646