Saturday 27 / April / 2024
China's foreign minister said on Sunday new U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea were the right response to a series of missile tests, but dialogue was vital to resolve a complex and sensitive issue now at a "critical juncture". Scarlett Cvitanovich reports.
China using a face to face meeting to urge North Korea to stop missile tests.
The country's foreign minister sat down with his Korean counterpart on Sunday (August 6), just hours after fresh sanctions on Pyongyang were agreed by the United Nations Security Council.
North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.
The new measures - voted through unanimously on Saturday (August 5) - were a response to five nuclear tests and four long-range missile launches.
China has expressed support for the decision but stressed sanctions are not the sole solution and dialogue is vital to resolve a complex and sensitive issue now at a, quote, "critical juncture."
Chinese foreign minister Wang Li told reporters he had urged the North Koreans to calmly handle the resolutions and, quote, "not do anything unbeneficial towards the international community, such as missiles or nuclear tests."
Wang declined to say what response he received.
He went on to encourage the United States and South Korea not to increase the tension.
The U.S. has long maintained that China has not done enough to rein in North Korea with the countries negotiating for a month on the new resolution.
The North Korea stand-off is expected to dominate Monday's ASEAN Regional Forum, where 27 foreign ministers - including those of Russia, the United States, China, and North and South Korea have gathered in the Philippines to discuss security issues.
