China urges talks after US calls DPRK a sponsor of terrorism

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On Tuesday, China called for extra efforts to resolve nuclear crisis of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) through talks after US President Donald Trump re-branded Pyongyang as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is highly complex and sensitive, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang at a regular briefing.

"We still hope all relevant parties can contribute to easing tensions, resuming talks and adopting the correct track to resolving the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue and consultation," Lu added.

Trump on Monday declared the DPRK as a state sponsor of terror, accusing the country of "threatening the world by nuclear devastation" and repeatedly supporting "acts of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil."

US President Donald Trump meets with his cabinet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 20, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Trump also said the US Treasury Department will announce measures on Tuesday to slap an additional "large" sanction against the DPRK.

"It must end its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile development, and cease all support for international terrorism – which it is not doing," he noted.

The DPRK was removed from the list of state sponsors of terror by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Song Tao, special envoy of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, who just concluded his four-day visit to the DPRK, had exchanged views with the DPRK side on the Korean Peninsula issue.

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