North Korea, China hold talks in Pyongyang amid regional tensions
Iran Press TV
Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:13AM GMT
North Korea's leader has held a meeting with China's vice president in Pyongyang, with Beijing calling for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a report says.
China's official news agency Xinhua said on Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao on July 25, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War ceasefire.
Li urged the North Korean side to abandon its nuclear weapons program and return to the six-party talks involving China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The vice president's comments reflected Chinese President Xi Jinping's call in June for North Korea to rejoin nuclear talks, which have been stalled.
Negotiations were brought to a halt in 2009, when Pyongyang protested against a new round of UN sanctions following its nuclear tests.
On March 7, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution, drafted by the United States and China, against North Korea, further tightening Pyongyang's financial dealings and adding new names to the UN sanctions blacklist.
Despite Beijing's support for the recent UN resolution against Pyongyang, China says it will not abandon North Korea and sanctions are not the 'fundamental way' to resolve the nuclear issues.
The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of escalating military rhetoric over the past few months.
On March 30, North Korea declared that it was in a "state of war" with South Korea.
GMA/HSN
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