Beijing Hopes All Parties Take Steps to Achieve Peace on Korean Peninsula

06:41 GMT, 21 April 2018

BEIJING (Sputnik) - China hopes that, following North Korea’s decision to cease nuclear and missile tests, all parties concerned will take steps toward achieving lasting peace and progress on the Korean Peninsula, China’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

Sputnik

The move to halt nuclear and ballistic missile tests effective immediately was announced earlier in the day after a meeting of the North Korean ruling party's central committee on Friday. The state news agency, KCNA, said North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un would also shut an atomic test site in the country's north.

"China hopes that all the parties concerned will take a step toward each other and take concrete action in order to achieve lasting peace and common progress in the region," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement.

Lu stressed that China intended to continue playing an active role in this process.

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North Korea's leader plans to end nuclear and missile tests to focus on economic growth, given that the aim of creating a nuclear weapon has been reached, according to KCNA. The North will not hand over its atomic weapons or technology to anyone and will use them to respond to any nuclear threat or provocation, KCNA added.

North Korea’s decision was met with praise by US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe demanded that it be followed by a complete dismantlement of the North's nuclear and missile programs.