MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday urged China to unite efforts to make North Korea abandon its nuclear and missile program in order to ensure regional security.
"North Korean nuclear and missile issues are not only limited to South Korea. North Korea is also a neighbor of China, and a rise in tension in the region due to North Korea's nuclear development is threatening the peace and development of not only South Korea but also China," Moon said in a special lecture at Peking University, as quoted by Yonhap news agency.
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"What we want is not confrontation or competition with North Korea. I again stress that we, along with the rest of the international community, will provide a bright future if North Korea makes the right choice," the president added.
#Korean First Lady Kim Jeong-suk is on a state visit with Korea President Moon Jae-in in #Beijing, and she tried playing erhu produced by #Wuxi craftsmen! pic.twitter.com/680s6QpGbr
— 魅力無錫 Wuxi China (@WuxiCity) 15 декабря 2017 г.
Earlier this week, Moon arrived in Beijing for a four-day state visit and discussed the North Korean problem with Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to the media outlet, the two leaders agreed to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiation. Moon and Xi, in particular, agreed that international pressure and sanctions were needed to prevent Pyongyang's provocations.
In July, the DPRK twice tested prototypes of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Later, on August 29 and September 15, Pyongyang carried out two more launches of medium-range missiles that flew over the territory of Japan. On September 3, Pyongyang announced a successful hydrogen charge test.