South Korea Reaching Out to China To Keep Peace on Penninsula
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: On to the Korean front: South Korea is reaching out to China to try to keep the peninsula at peace. CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon reporting from Seoul.</s>REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: South Korea's deputy foreign minister is now in Beijing. He's scheduled to meet Thursday with China's vice foreign minister. South Korea's goal in this meeting is to try and convince China to take a more active role in ratcheting down tensions here on the Korean Peninsula. with North Korea having kicked out nuclear inspectors from its nuclear facilities. Now, China is North Korea's closest alley. It has the largest amount of trade with North Korea than any other country in the world. China has a lot of cards to play. South Korea would like to see some of these cards being played more actively as it seeks a diplomatic situation (sic) to this current ratcheting up of tensions. Now South Korea's new president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, who takes office in February, gave a new year's message today in which he made it clear his team is working very hard to find a diplomatic solution.</s>ROH MOO-HYUN, SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translator): We have examined and debated the nuclear issues. The conclusion is that we can solve this matter with dialogue and compromise, if our people and politicians gather their strength. I am confident, I will resolve this problem without fail.</s>MACKINNON: Meanwhile, more bellicose rhetoric coming from North Korea today. The state-run news agency, in an editorial, accusing the United States of targeting North Korea for an invasion and calling on the people of North Korea to strengthen the military to protect North Korea's dignity and sovereignty. So on this day, no signs of conciliation coming from North Korea, as the inspectors have now left North Korea with the international community having no way of monitoring what is going on in North Korea's nuclear facilities. Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN, Seoul.</s>O'BRIEN: As if the two Koreas needed one more destabilizing element, people on both sides of the DMZ are miffed over, of all things, a Hollywood movie. CNN's Sohn Jie-Ae reviews the controversy.</s>SOHN JIE-AE, CNN SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Anyone who thinks North Korea deserves more than warnings about its nuclear weapons should see the latest Bond thriller "Die Another Day." In it, Bond, James Bond that is, annihilates North Koreans in the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas. And in the end, gets his just revenge against a North Korean renegade. But while James Bond dodges bullets, the movie hasn't been able to escape the barrage of criticism from South and North Koreans alike. A small group of protesters lined the street in front of the theater where the Bond movie opened, displaying banners calling for a boycott of the film. They were angry at what they called the movie's war mongering tones.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (speaking foreign language) (voice of translator) We think it is outrageous that such a film that promotes war and belittles Koreans should be shown here.</s>SOHN: Internet sites are overrun with claims that several parts of the film portray South Korean soldiers as inferior to the American military and the countryside as poor and underdeveloped. North Korea's official media channels have called the movie, quote, "dirty and cursed," end quote, and said it slanders North Korea and insults the Korean people. Nevertheless, most people buying tickets to the flick don't seem that concerned.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking foreign language) (voice of translator) I really didn't think about that factor. I will judge for myself when I finish seeing the movie.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking foreign language) (voice of translator) I think the film should be judged for its entertainment value, not its political meanings.</s>SOHN: However, opening day box office figures don't seem very high. But the movie's distributors hope this will pick up as initial furor dies down. While the recent North Korea controversy may or may influence how well this film does at the box office, this Bond movie certainly has Koreans on both sides of the border shaken and stirred. Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.