Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

The U.S. and China agree they must exert pressure on North Korea to compel the nation to resume disarmament talks, the top American diplomat handling the issue said.

Ambassador Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, spoke in Beijing on Friday, a day after meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei.

“The Chinese remained committed along with us and other members of the five parties to complete the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and they are willing to corporate with us towards that goal,” Kim said. “The Chinese agreed that pressure has to be an important part of our overall approach on North Korea.”

Six-party talks involving North Korea and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S. collapsed in 2009 after North Korea walked out in response to United Nations condemnation of a long-range rocket launch. North Korea has successfully detonated three nuclear devices at a test site and has been improving the range of its ballistic missiles in defiance of UN sanctions over its weapons program.

The U.S., China and South Korea have been unable to convince the Kim Jong Un regime to return to talks, and there are signs that North Korea is expanding its nuclear arsenal.

China is working with the U.S. to implement the UN Security Council resolution on North Korea, Sung Kim said, and the cooperation will continue.