China, Russia Set To Continue Promoting Political Solution To Korean Crisis - Ambassador

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2019) China and Russia will continue to support a political solution to the North Korean issue, China's new Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui stressed in an interview with Sputnik.

Earlier on Tuesday, North Korea fired two projectiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan. The launch came just a day after North Korea's government announced that it was ready to resume talks with the United States in the second half of September.

"China and Russia have always followed the goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, have stressed that dialogue and consultations are the only effective means of resolving the Korean peninsula issue; have admitted that a political solution to the issue of the Korean Peninsula must be aligned with the goal of denuclearization in exchange for security and development guarantees and requires a universal and balanced resolution of the concerns of all parties and, at the same time, cooperation in denuclearization and the establishment of a peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula," Hanhui said.

The ambassador stressed that China supported dialogue between Washington and North Korea and stood for the amelioration of relations between Pyongyang and Seoul.

"China and Russia will continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue," Hanhui emphasized, speaking in an interview with Sputnik.

On Sunday, Moon Chung-in, a special adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told Sputnik that Russia, China and Japan should join the dialogue between the United States and North Korea on normalization, stressing, however, that at this stage, progress in talks depends only on Washington and Pyongyang.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula significantly improved last year after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's talks with Moon and US President Donald Trump. In June 2018, Kim and Trump reached an agreement, stipulating that North Korea would make efforts to promote complete denuclearization of the peninsula in exchange for US-South Korean military drills' freeze and potential removal of US sanctions.

However, the negotiating process has stalled this year, with the tensions having escalated over Pyongyang's continued missile tests.