<p>South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak turned the heat up on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at a three-way summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in South Korea, as the leaders discussed the sinking, which claimed 46 lives.<br /><br />Regional tensions have risen sharply since international investigators said a North Korean torpedo sunk the warship, with South Korea announcing reprisals that have sparked threats of war from the North.<br /><br />“South Korea will focus all diplomatic efforts on holding North Korea responsible in the summit this weekend,” Lee’s spokesman Park Sun-Kyoo said.<br />“Japan will sincerely support South Korea,” Hatoyama told Lee before they went into three-way talks with Wen, Lee’s office said. <br /><br />Leading role<br />The Japanese leader also promised Japan’s “leading role” in mustering international support for South Korea at the UN Security Council, Lee’s senior spokesman Lee Dong-Kwan told journalists.<br /><br />The talks on the southern resort island of Jeju came after a rare press conference by North Korean military officials on Friday, in which they accused the South of fabricating evidence over the sinking of the 1,200-tonne Cheonan.<br /><br />Unlike many countries, China has not publicly blamed Pyongyang for the sinking, one of the worst military attacks on the South since the 1950-53 war. “China is persistent in supporting peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” Wen was quoted telling S Korean PM Chung Un-Chan hours before joining the summit, according to Chung’s spokesman.“We reject any act that would harm peace and stability.”<br /><br />Wen was also quoted as saying that China attached importance to the outcome of a multinational investigation led by South Korea into the sinking.<br /></p>
<p>South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak turned the heat up on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at a three-way summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in South Korea, as the leaders discussed the sinking, which claimed 46 lives.<br /><br />Regional tensions have risen sharply since international investigators said a North Korean torpedo sunk the warship, with South Korea announcing reprisals that have sparked threats of war from the North.<br /><br />“South Korea will focus all diplomatic efforts on holding North Korea responsible in the summit this weekend,” Lee’s spokesman Park Sun-Kyoo said.<br />“Japan will sincerely support South Korea,” Hatoyama told Lee before they went into three-way talks with Wen, Lee’s office said. <br /><br />Leading role<br />The Japanese leader also promised Japan’s “leading role” in mustering international support for South Korea at the UN Security Council, Lee’s senior spokesman Lee Dong-Kwan told journalists.<br /><br />The talks on the southern resort island of Jeju came after a rare press conference by North Korean military officials on Friday, in which they accused the South of fabricating evidence over the sinking of the 1,200-tonne Cheonan.<br /><br />Unlike many countries, China has not publicly blamed Pyongyang for the sinking, one of the worst military attacks on the South since the 1950-53 war. “China is persistent in supporting peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” Wen was quoted telling S Korean PM Chung Un-Chan hours before joining the summit, according to Chung’s spokesman.“We reject any act that would harm peace and stability.”<br /><br />Wen was also quoted as saying that China attached importance to the outcome of a multinational investigation led by South Korea into the sinking.<br /></p>