Beijing opposes missile launches by DPRK

Beijing reiterated its opposition to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's missile launches and called for parties involved in the Korean Peninsula issue to "practice restraint".

The DPRK fired several missiles into waters east of the Korean Peninsula on Monday as combined forces of the Republic of Korea and the United States continued with joint military exercises that began seven days ago, the ROK's Yonhap news agency reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Monday that China is aware of "the development".

"The United Nations Security Council resolutions contain clear provisions on the DPRK conducting launches using ballistic missile technology. China is opposed to the DPRK going against the United Nations Security Council resolutions and carrying out the launches," Geng said.

The launches follow another DPRK missile launch on Feb 12.

"China is also aware of the large-scale joint military exercise that the US and the ROK are conducting targeting the DPRK," Geng said. "Under current circumstances, all of the parties concerned should practice restraint and avoid doing things that would irritate each other and increase tension in the region."

Geng added that China's position is consistent: denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula and resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation.

The US-ROK joint military exercise started on March 1 and will last for two months. Geng said that China's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, Wu Dawei, had phone conversations with the heads of the US and ROK delegations to the Six-Party Talks on Friday.

Wu said that the US-ROK military exercises won't help in solving the Korean Peninsula issue and are likely to intensify antagonism on the peninsula and further complicate the situation.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn