China remains an onlooker while losing its influence over North Korea as Pyongyang is massively bolstering military cooperation with Russia, a White House official said Thursday, calling for Beijing to play a greater role for stability in the region. Mira Rapp-Hooper, the senior director for East Asia and Oceania at the National Security Council, made the remarks, stressing Washington has been taking "unprecedented" action to deter North Korean threats and pursuing "greater, regularized" dialogue with Pyongyang to reduce risks of inadvertent escalation. Her remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty during a summit in Pyongyang last Wednesday, accentuating their growing military alignment and aggravating concerns about its security implications. "All this is happening while the PRC is standing by, slowly losing its influence, as North Korea increasingly turns to Russia instead," Rapp-Hooper said in a prereco rded speech for a forum hosted by Yonhap News Agency and Seoul's unification ministry. PRC stands for China's official name, the People's Republic of China. "That is particularly dangerous at a time when a PRC push to maintain the status quo on the peninsula could be helpful for promoting stability and curbing North Korea's willingness to take provocative actions," she added. She touched on China's apparent inaction, pointing to the North's continued transfer of munitions and missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine, Moscow's veto of a resolution on the renewal of a sanction-monitoring U.N. panel and its shipment of refined petroleum to the North. Washington has persistently called on Beijing to leverage its clout over Pyongyang and play a constructive role in ensuring stability on the Korean Peninsula. Such a push has borne little fruit, although the world's second-largest economy is seen as having remained a pivotal partner for both the North and Russia, which have been under intense pressure from internati onal sanctions. Last week's summit between Putin and Kim stoked fears that Pyongyang could be further emboldened amid tensions heightened by North Korean troops' brief yet repeated border crossings, the regime's sending of trash-carrying balloons to the South and the suspension of a 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction accord. The summit produced a new defense treaty that calls for one party to provide military assistance to the other "without delay" in the event of an armed invasion -- a pledge that amounted to a revival of the two countries' Cold War-era military alliance. "The comprehensive strategic partnership that Kim and Putin signed makes clear that North Korea and Russia have every intention of forging an ever closer military relationship with direct implications for the Korean Peninsula and the whole of the Indo-Pacific, as well as for Europe," Rapp-Hooper said. The official reaffirmed America's "extended deterrence" commitment to defending its allies with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons. "This is just one of the reasons that we have been so focused on ensuring the credibility of our extended deterrence commitments in the Indo-Pacific to send a clear message to North Korea, Russia and the People's Republic of China and to the rest of the world that the U.S. will stand by South Korea and our regional allies and uphold our own mutual defense commitments, which have served to provide for peace and stability in the region for so long," she said. She also underscored that Washington is taking "unprecedented" action to deter North Korea, pointing to last year's summit declaration between President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden that led to the establishment of the allies' Nuclear Consultative Group, a body to discuss nuclear and strategic planning issues. "I am very happy to report that we have made remarkable progress during the past year, and this has fundamentally strengthened the U.S.-South Korea alliance and our ability to engage in nuclea r and strategic planning," she said. Apparently mindful of growing cross-border tensions, however, Rapp-Hooper repeatedly underlined the importance of communication with the North, describing direct dialogue as the "best" way to address differences and identify ways to make "meaningful" progress. Observers said an abrupt flare-up of inter-Korean tensions could create a foreign policy headache for Washington, particularly during the election season, as it has already been heavily consumed with Russia's protracted war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. "The recent incursions by North Korean soldiers into South Korea and the Demilitarized Zone ... are a sign of how close to the border North Korean soldiers are now operating and how easily an accident could occur. Resilient communication channels would substantially enhance our ability to avoid misunderstandings or inadvertent escalation in the event of such a situation," she said. "They are just as important in a crisis. The reality is the U.S. is willing and ready to engage on any of these issues. But that won't be possible if North Korea does not pick up the phone." While denuclearization is the U.S.' "ultimate" goal, there is much to discuss with Pyongyang, including responses to public health emergencies and climate change, she said. "Discussions are essential for reducing mistrust and building confidence in the interest of enhancing regional peace and security," she said. She also repeated the Biden administration's willingness to explore "interim steps" on a path towards denuclearization. "The United States remains committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We are willing to consider interim steps on the path to denuclearization provided that these steps would make the regime and the world a safer place for all of us," she said. "We know that progress takes time, and the meaningful pursuit of a Korean Peninsula that is free and at peace will not occur overnight. That is all the more reason for us to return to dialogue so that we can reduce and eventually eliminate the threats facing the peninsula." Calling the effort a "threat reduction approach," she said that the U.S. will work "in lockstep" with South Korea to pursue "greater, regularized" communication and other "stabilizing" exchanges with the North. She did not elaborate further. Source: Yonhap News Agency