China, US Relations Tense Over North Korea

Adm. Mike Mullen, America's top military officer, let his feelings about Chinese interaction with North Korea be known last week while in Seoul.

"China has enormous influence over the North, and therefore they have a unique responsibility," Admiral Mullen said at a South Korean press conference. "Now is the time for Beijing to step up to that responsibility and guide the North, and indeed the whole region, to a better future."

Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Seoul to meet with Gen. Han Min-koo, Mullen's South Korean equivalent.

Admiral Mullen also said he considered North Korea "a rapidly evolving threat" and was highly critical of North Korea's recent attack on Yeonpyeong Island.

The Nov. 23 attack on the South Korean Island left four dead, two of which were marines. The scuffle began when South Korean forces began training exercises off the country's coast. Seoul countered with an aerial response, but has been praised by the U.S. government for its restraint.

China offered neither support or reprimand for their ally in the days following the incident, but has since promoted "cool-headedness" concerning the matter. China has also publicly opposed North Korean nuclear testing, but has denounced the U.S. and South Korea's decision to continue training exercises in the area.

South Korea executed a nationwide set of military training drills last week and the U.S. and Japan are planning their largest-ever war games – with South Koreans allowed to observe for the first time.

Ryane Keith, a graduate student studying Chinese relations at the University of Oklahoma said the United States and China are on different ends of the political spectrum, but North Korea is not as dangerous to their relationship as it might appear.

"The U.S. wants all players to follow in their diplomatic footsteps," Keith said. "But China has their own opinion of public diplomacy ... I don't foresee that China would really back itself into a corner and have to pick."

For more from Keith, check out the audio clips seen below.