China’s calls for diplomacy ignored by US and DPRK

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Tensions were high on and around the Korean Peninsula, in part because of ongoing military drills. China is among the nations pushing to end the US exercises and the DPRK’s missile tests. It says that’s the only way constructive dialogue between the two sides can resume.

Over the past three decades, the DPRK has successfully conducted more than 80 missile tests, according to analysis by the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative group. The pace accelerated after Kim Jong Un became Supreme Leader in 2011, following his father’s death.

A man walks in front of portraits of DPRK founder Kim Il Sung and late leader Kim Jong Il in central Pyongyang, DPRK, April 16, 2017. /Reuters Photo

This year, it broke a barrier. The DPRK fired intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The missile tests follow round after round of nuclear tests in the DPRK.

US intelligence reportedly agrees with a Japanese Defense conclusion that the testing may be linked to another milestone for Pyongyang - a nuclear warhead so small it can fit into a missile warhead.

“We won’t place our self-defense nuclear deterrent on the negotiation table whatever anyone says, as long as the US maintains a hostile policy and nuclear threats against us,” reports KRT, the government television station in Pyongyang.

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The DPRK said it will halt its proliferation when the US stops its provocations. Namely, joint military drills – with Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan – conducted off Korean shores.

Each side has condemned the other’s tests and exercises. The US has been especially critical of the DPRK’s nuclear tests.

The US has conducted more nuclear tests than the rest of the world combined – though Washington’s last nuclear test was in 1992. The DPRK’s latest test was last year. China says the only way forward is for both sides to stop preparing for war, and start talking.

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about DPRK before a workforce and apprenticeship discussion at his golf estate in Bedminster, New Jersey US August 11, 2017. /Reuters Photo‍

“China hopes that all relevant parties move forward together, and, through equal dialogue, find fundamental solutions that address everyone’s reasonable concerns over security,” said Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister. “This is the most important key to solving the crux of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and finally realizing the denuclearization on the Peninsula.”

On Thursday, the US State Department repeated that talks can only happen after it sees significant DPRK denuclearization, and not before.