S. Korea, China share commitment to peace, fail to hold N. Korea responsible for provocations

(ATTN: ADDS comments by Chinese defense minister in paras 15-20)
BEIJING, July 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and China on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to peace in the region and said they will strengthen their cooperation to maintain stability, the South's defense ministry said.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Chinese counterpart, Liang Guanglie, said in a joint statement following their talks that they are "opposed to any provocative behavior that harms the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula."
The statement, however, made no mention of North Korea, which ratcheted up tensions with two deadly provocations last year -- the March torpedoing of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the November shelling of the border island of Yeonpyeong -- that killed 50 people in total.
China, as the North's biggest ally and economic benefactor, has often been asked by Seoul and Washington to use its influence on Pyongyang to dissuade its communist neighbor from engaging in further provocations and developing nuclear weapons.
China has been reluctant to criticize North Korea for the attacks, and has instead called for dialogue to resolve the situation while South Korea and the U.S. have demanded a North Korean apology for its provocations.
Kim's trip was the first to China by a South Korean defense minister in two years and the first since the two deadly North Korean provocations last year.
According to a South Korean ministry official, it proved difficult to name North Korea as the guilty party in a joint document with China as there was apparent reluctance from the Chinese side to hold its ally responsible.
"We believe the statement still expresses our intentions as it is," the official said. "For its part, China also altered its positions many times to try to draft the statement."
Another official said the fact that the two ministers came up with the joint statement was significant in itself.
"It's usually heads of state who issue joint statements," the official said. "We did our best to produce this document at the ministerial level."
The document was the first of its kind between defense ministers of the two countries, and the talks represented a "new turning point" in the development of the defense relationship between the two sides, the ministry added.
The ministry also said Kim "asked China to play a more active and constructive role in deterring North Korean provocations and maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula."
Though it failed to hold North Korea responsible in the document, the South was able to explain to China its stance against any North Korean provocation or threat, a South Korean official said.
"We said the attacks on the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island were provocations that seriously threatened the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia," the official said. "We also emphasized that tensions on the peninsula are caused by North Korea's armed provocations, and if North Korea continues to carry out such military risks, we will strongly respond in the name of self-defense."
According to the South's ministry, Liang acknowledged the South Korean position, saying the attacks on the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island "raised tensions on the peninsula and made the situation there more complicated."
"Basically, (South Korea and China) share a common goal on the development of Northeast Asia, including achieving peace, stability and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Liang was quoted as saying. "In particular, the nuclear problem on the peninsula is threatening the security of Northeast Asia."
Liang added that China hopes for "continued dialogue and cooperation" between the two Koreas.
"As far as China's constructive role, we will continue to persuade North Korea in many different ways and channels, as we did in the past and we do in the present," the Chinese minister said. "China is putting in many more efforts than what appears to be on the outside."
Liang called for restraint by both Koreas and urged them "to look toward the future."
"I think South Korea and China should try and implement our agreements and elevate the relationship between our militaries," he said.
Also at the talks, the two ministers agreed to launch annual bilateral defense strategic dialogue in order to better handle contingencies on the peninsula and throughout the region.
The inaugural meeting will be held from July 27-30 in Seoul, the South's ministry said.
South Korea and China also agreed to revive their military education exchange program starting next year. According to Kim, the two sides had these exchanges from 1999 to 2004, with 24 South Korean military officers training at Chinese institutes, but China halted the program in 2005
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