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‘No winner’ warning as talks urged
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WARNING there would be “no winner” in the event of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula, China yesterday urged North Korea and the United States to stop their escalating war of words and sit down for talks on cooling the recent spike in tensions.
The comments from foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang reinforce China’s position that all sides should avoid provoking each other following new United Nations economic sanctions on North Korea and a new exchange of threats between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“A war on the Korean Peninsula will have no winner, which will also be a tragedy for regional countries,” Lu said at a daily briefing in Beijing. “Given our consistent opposition to the war and chaos on the peninsula, we totally disapprove of an escalation of the war of words between the US and North Korea.”
On Monday, North Korea’s top diplomat characterized Trump’s tweet that Kim “won’t be around much longer” as a declaration of war against his country by the US.
However, Lu noted that the Trump administration denied it had declared war and said the US remained committed to eliminating nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula through peaceful means.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking on the sidelines of a UN meeting in New York, said the situation on the Korean Peninsula was at a very dangerous stage, according to the foreign ministry yesterday.
The urgent task was to prevent North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs progressing, to avoid a further escalation in tensions and to especially prevent resorting to arms, Wang added.
North Korea has boosted defenses on its east coast, after it said Trump had declared war and that it would shoot down US bombers flying near the peninsula.
Bolstering its defenses
South Korean lawmaker Lee Cheol-uoo, briefed by the country’s spy agency, said North Korea was bolstering its defenses by moving aircraft to its east coast and taking other measures after US bombers flew close to the Korean Peninsula at the weekend.
Lee said the US appeared to have disclosed the flight route of the bombers intentionally because North Korea seemed to be unaware.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said Trump’s Twitter comments about Ri and Kim not being around much longer amounted to a “declaration of war and that Pyongyang had the right to take countermeasures.”
Ri said North Korea’s right to countermeasures included shooting down US bombers even when they were outside its airspace.
“The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country,” he told reporters in New York, where he had been attending the annual United Nations General Assembly.
“The question of who won’t be around much longer will be answered then,” he said.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Kim Jong Un yesterday to resume military talks and reunions of families split by the 1950-53 Korean War to ease tensions.
“Like I’ve said multiple times before, if North Korea stops its reckless choices, the table for talks and negotiations always remains open,” Moon said.
He was speaking at a event to mark an October 4, 2007, declaration promoting goodwill signed between then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un’s father.
In Moscow, Russia’s foreign ministry said it was working behind the scenes to find a political solution and that using sanctions was almost exhausted.
During a visit to India, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said diplomatic efforts continued.
He said UN Security Council resolutions had increased the pressure, economic and diplomatic, on North Korea. At the same time, “we maintain the capability to deter North Korea’s most dangerous threats.”
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