South Korea should be more vocal against China's behavior in the South China Sea, a U.S. expert said, days after a senior American diplomat issued a similar appeal ahead of South Korean President Park Geun-hye's visit to Washington.
  

Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center, made the point in an article, claiming that increasing cooperation in Southeast Asia should be on the agenda for an upcoming summit between Park and U.S. President Barack Obama.
  

"It would be encouraging to see South Korea become more vocal and direct in support of customary international law with regard to tensions in the South China Sea," the expert said in the article carried by the Nikkei Asian Review.
  

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel made a similar remark a few days earlier, saying South Korea should speak out against China's forceful assertion of its territorial claims in the South China Sea as it is a major stakeholder in the international order in which it has thrived.
  

The remark was seen as pressure on Seoul ahead of Park's visit to Washington.
  

The U.S. has increased criticism of China for the land reclamation projects that Beijing has been carrying out in an apparent effort to bolster its territorial claims in the waters also claimed by countries like the Philippines and Vietnam.
  

Lohman noted that South Korea and the U.S. emphasized the importance of freedom of navigation in the area in a joint statement the two countries issued in October after high-level security talks in Washington between their defense and foreign ministers.
  

"In the future, such statements, including any associated with Park's visit to Washington, should be more direct about the need for China to clarify its claims in keeping with the principle that maritime rights proceed only from legitimate land claims," he said.
  

Such efforts would be of help in preparing for unification in terms of sending messages to the region about what to expect from the event, Lohman said.
  

"A unified, democratic Korea will be a powerful force for peace, stability, prosperity and freedom throughout the region, even more so if there are no surprises about where it will stand," he said. "It is not too soon for the U.S. and South Korea to let the region know. They can start in Southeast Asia." (Yonhap)