Seoul - North Korea will gain "nothing" by
making threats, US President Barack Obama said on Friday, warning it of
sanctions with "more bite" if it went ahead with a fourth nuclear
test.
Speaking in South Korea as satellite images revealed the
North could be preparing for another test, Obama stressed that Washington and
Seoul stood "shoulder to shoulder" in their refusal to accept a
nuclear North Korea.
Even China, the North's only major ally, was becoming
alienated by its provocative behaviour, he said on the second leg of his Asian
tour.
"Threats will get North Korea nothing, other than
greater isolation," Obama said at a joint press conference with South
Korean President Park Geun-Hye.
"China is beginning to recognise that North Korea is
not just a nuisance but a significant problem for their own security," he
added.
North Korea-watchers have puzzled over whether the test
preparations at the Punggye-ri test site they have seen via satellite images
are real, or bravado aimed at stealing the limelight during the US president's
tour.
But the latest images suggested increased movement of
vehicles and materials near what are believed to be the entrances to two
completed test tunnels, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said
on its closely followed 38 North website.
Also visible were probable command and control vehicles
intended to provide secure communications between the test site and other
facilities.
North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests, in 2006,
2009 and 2013.
The 38 North analyses noted that preparations for the
test in February last year had peaked two or three days before detonation.
Asked how the international community might react, Obama
said it would be necessary to look at "additional ways" to apply
pressure, including "further sanctions that have even more bite".
Obama's tough talking on what he called "the most
isolated country in the world" stood in marked contrast to the warm words
of sympathy he had for his hosts, still racked with grief over the 300 people
dead or missing after a ferry full of schoolchildren capsized last week.
"I'm very mindful that my visit comes at a time of
mourning for the people of this nation," he said ahead of talks with Park
at the presidential Blue House.
"I just want to express, on the part of the American
people, condolences for the incredible loss."
While a US presidential visit would normally be expected
to command the lion's share of attention in South Korea, the country remains
preoccupied with the misery wrought by the sinking of the ferry.
Television coverage of Obama's activities was limited,
with the focus still on events in Jindo, where divers were racing against time
and tide to recover the 119 bodies still believed trapped in the sunken vessel.
Bad weather was expected to close in on Saturday,
hampering the effort.
'Egregious
violation of human rights'
Obama's four-nation tour of Asia had begun in Japan,
where he offered Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assurances that the US was
treaty-bound to act if China moved militarily against Japanese-controlled
islands at the centre of a bitter territorial dispute.
And in Seoul on Friday he broached another regional fault-line
when he said Japan's wartime system of sex slavery "was a terrible,
egregious violation of human rights”.
"Those women were violated in ways that even in the
midst of war were shocking," he said. "They deserve to be heard, they
deserve to be respected. And there should be an accurate and clear account of
what happened."
South Korea and other nations accuse Japan of failing
sufficiently to atone for the forced recruitment of so-called "comfort
women" to service its troops before and during WWII.
The issue remains a major irritant in relations between
Tokyo and Seoul, and a frustration to Washington which wants its two major
allies in the region to act together against North Korea and forge a united
front against a rising China.
"I think [Japanese] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe
recognises this and certainly the Japanese people recognise that the past is
something that has to be recognised honestly and fairly."
After a formal dinner with Park later in the day, Obama
on Saturday will visit about of the 28 500 US troops stationed in South Korea,
before heading on to Malaysia and the Philippines.
