Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sharply criticized Beijing for not condemning North Korea’s artillery barrage against a South Korean island two weeks ago. Two marines and two civilians were killed in the attack, which has frayed diplomatic nerves in the region and brought both militaries to heightened states of alert.

“China has enormous influence over the North, and therefore they have a unique responsibility,” Admiral Mullen said after meeting with Gen. Han Min-koo, chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs. “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.”

“Even tacit approval of Pyongyang’s brazenness,” he said, “leaves all the neighbors in the region asking, ‘What’s next?’“

Rather than disavowing the North’s use of military force against civilians, China has instead criticized the response by Washington and Seoul — a large set of military exercises in the Yellow Sea off China and North Korea, drills that were led by the American carrier George Washington and its battle group.

General Han called the Nov. 23 attack on Yeonpyeong Island “an intolerable act against humanity,” and said the United States and South Korea had agreed to hold further combined military exercises in the region. A joint statement by the two officers said the drills will be “designed to effectively deter North Korean aggression and strengthen the joint capabilities to respond.”

South Korea is holding a nationwide set of artillery drills this week. And the United States and Japan are currently staging their largest-ever war games, including, for the first time, South Korean observers.

As part of its response to the Yeonpyeong episode, Beijing called for a restart of the so-called six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programs, which Pyongyang continues to pursue. North Korea recently unveiled a new uranium enrichment facility, which it said was operational, and a new light water reactor that is under construction.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have rejected new talks. The South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers conferred with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Monday in what Admiral Mullen called “a truly historic trilateral meeting.”

Admiral Mullen, who described North Korea as “a rapidly evolving threat,” also made a point on Wednesday of affirming the military alliance between Seoul and Washington.

“We have been at your side for six decades, and President Obama wanted me to assure you that we will be at your side for many more,” he said, adding that the alliance was distinguished by “a shoulder-to-shoulder approach.”

But he stopped short of saying there would be a wingtip-to-wingtip approach in the event of any quick South Korean response to a future North Korean provocation. Planning, yes. Bombers in the air, no.

South Korea’s newly appointed defense minister, Kim Kwan-jin, said last week that airstrikes against the North are now one of South Korea’s options under Seoul’s new rules of engagement.

The government has been severely criticized here for what is seen as a slow and even mild response to the North Korean shelling. But Admiral Mullen on Wednesday praised the South Korean response for its “restraint,” and said he has not asked that South Korean military planners “take their air assets off the table.”

He also stressed that cooperation with Japanese military forces would be essential to future stability in the region, and he planned to leave for Tokyo on Wednesday night for talks with Japanese defense officials.

“We have to get to a place where there’s much more trilateral cooperation that there has been in the past,” Admiral Mullen said.

“The Japanese, likewise, have a stake,” he added, “in seeing this threat countered.”

Reports of artillery fire in the North briefly spooked Seoul on Wednesday morning but the military quickly announced that the firing was part of regular drills being held in the North. General Han said he could not confirm that the North’s artillery drills were timed to coincide with Admiral Mullen’s visit.

Meanwhile, the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, will travel to North Korea next week to meet with government officials, Reuters reported, although a senior American official characterized the trip as a private visit. Mr. Richardson served as the American ambassador to the United Nations in the Clinton administration.

A North Korean soldier looks toward the South side at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on December 8, 2010. US and South Korean military chiefs held talks on ways to deter North Korea without triggering a war, as a firing drill by the North briefly rattled Seoul's financial markets.


A North Korean soldier looks toward the South side at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on December 8, 2010. US and South Korean military chiefs held talks on ways to deter North Korea without triggering a war, as a firing drill by the North briefly rattled Seoul's financial markets.