Breakthrough after U.S. warns China on North Korea

[pnorman]

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States warned China that it would redeploy forces in Asia if it failed to rein in its ally North Korea, the New York Times reported on Friday, as Pyongyang bowed to Seoul's demands for crisis talks.

The paper quoted a senior administration official as saying. President Barack Obama's warning had persuaded China -- the North's main diplomatic and economic backer -- to take a harder line toward Pyongyang, and opened the door to a resumption of inter-Korean talks, possibly next month.

North Korea on Thursday accepted the South's conditions for talks, marking a major breakthrough in the crisis on the peninsula. Such dialogue could clear the way for the resumption of aid-for-disarmament, or six-party, talks.

The New York Times said Obama warned his Chinese counterpart that if Beijing did not step up pressure on North Korea, Washington would redeploy its forces in Asia to protect itself from a potential North Korean strike on U.S. soil.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110121/wl_nm/us_korea_north

[old mark]

1. K&R- Thanks for the post. One war there was enough....nt