China said on Friday tension over North Korea had to be stopped from reaching an “irreversible and unmanageable stage” as a U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed towards the region amid fears the North may conduct a sixth nuclear weapons test.
Concerns have grown since the U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in response to a deadly gas attack, raising questions about U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for North Korea, which has conducted missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. and unilateral sanctions.
The United States has warned that a policy of “strategic patience” is over. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence travels to South Korea on Sunday on a long-planned 10-day trip to Asia.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally and neighbour which nevertheless opposes its weapons programme, has called for talks leading to a peaceful resolution and the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
“We call on all parties to refrain from provoking and threatening each other, whether in words or actions, and not let the situation get to an irreversible and unmanageable stage,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing.
“Force cannot solve the problem, dialogue can be the only channel to resolve the problem.”
North Korea for its part denounced the United States for bringing “huge nuclear strategic assets” to the region.
A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Disarmament and Peace issued a statement condemning the United States for its attack on the Syrian airfield.
The dollar fell on Friday against a basket of currencies, on track for a losing week as tension over North Korea underpinned the perceived safe-haven Japanese yen.
“OPPORTUNITY TO TALK”
China, North Korea’s sole major ally and neighbour, which nevertheless opposes Pyongyang’s weapons programme, has called for talks leading to a peaceful resolution and the denuclearisation of the peninsula.
“Military force cannot resolve the issue,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing on Thursday. “Amid tensions we will also find a kind of opportunity to return to talks.”
While Trump has put North Korea on notice that he will not tolerate any more provocation, U.S. officials have said his administration is focusing its strategy on tougher economic sanctions.
Trump said on Thursday Pyongyang was a problem that “will be taken care of” and that he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping would “work very hard” to help resolve the challenge.
Trump has also said the United States is prepared to tackle the crisis without China, if necessary.
He diverted the nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its strike group towards the Korean peninsula last weekend in a show of force.
However, a senior Trump administration official described as “flat wrong” an NBC News report citing senior U.S. intelligence officials as saying the United States is prepared to launch a pre-emptive conventional weapons strike should officials be convinced North Korea is about to follow through with a nuclear weapons test.
Another U.S. official also dismissed the report, calling it “speculative at best”.
The Pentagon declined to comment, saying, as a policy, it does not discuss future operations “nor publicly speculate on possible scenarios”.
Pence’s trip to South Korea was a sign of the U.S. commitment to its ally in the face of rising tension, aides said.
“We’re going to consult with the Republic of Korea on North Korea’s efforts to advance its ballistic missile and its nuclear programme,” a White House foreign policy adviser, previewing Pence’s trip, told reporters.
Media in Japan said the government confirmed it would take all precautions regarding possible fresh North Korean provocations.
The Nikkei business daily said government discussions included how to rescue the estimated 57,000 Japanese citizens in South Korea as well as how to cope with a possible flood of North Korean refugees coming to Japan, among whom might be North Korean spies and agents.
Kyodo news agency said separately Japan had begun working on plans to respond to a potential crisis on the Korean peninsula in February, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Trump for a summit in the United States.
“The government has great interest in North Korea’s nuclear and missile moves and is collecting and analysing information,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government’s top spokesman, told a news conference.
“I will refrain from commenting on individual specific content or situations. At present, we are in close contact with the United States and South Korea and in addition to urging (the North) to refrain from provocative actions and observe relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he said.
Source – Reuters
