Obama to stress security alliance in Seoul visit_美文

Obama to stress security alliance in Seoul visit

The US needed to put pressure on the DPRK because of the latest tension aroused by Pyongyang's plan to launch a satellite in mid-April, said Chen Qi, an expert on East Asian studies at Tsinghua University.

The DPRK announced last Friday that its Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite carried by the Unha-3 rocket would blast off between April 12 and 16, to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of DPRK's founder Kim Il-sung.

Pyongyang's announcement aroused criticism from the US and its allies, who are concerned that the DPRK would use the same technology for a long-range missile launch.

China has continued to try to ease the tension created by the DPRK's satellite launch plan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry's Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs Luo Zhaohui on Tuesday urged all parties to keep calm and stressed that the peace and stability of the DPRK is in all sides' interests.

Meanwhile, the US is working closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which confirmed it had received DPRK's invitation to UN nuclear inspectors.

"We are obviously consulting with the IAEA on the right course of action. They haven't made any decisions," said US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

But she refused to say whether the IAEA would accept Pyongyang's invitation, even though the US is part of the decision-making process at the Vienna-based IAEA.