China on Friday called on all parties involved in the Korean Peninsula issue to exercise restraint and stop provocations after the DPRK leader Kim Jong Un issued a rare personal statement warning of retaliating at the "highest level" in response to US President Donald Trump's threat to "totally destroy" the DPRK.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is sensitive and complex. All parties concerned should exercise restraint and aim to ease the tension instead of provoking each other and adding fuel to the flames," said Lu Kang, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We believe that if all parties concerned really want to effectively solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, realize denuclearization and safeguard peace and stability in the region, it is now necessary to strictly follow the resolutions of the UN Security Council and actively explore ways to solve the problem through dialogue instead of provoking each other," he said.
This appeal came as a war of words between the US and the DPRK escalated, with the DPRK leader calling Trump a "mentally deranged US dotard" and his UN speech on Tuesday "the most ferocious declaration of a war in history."
Trump had warned Kim in his UN address on Tuesday that if threatened, the US would "totally destroy" the country of 26 million people and mocked Kim as a "rocket man" on a suicide mission.
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters Pyongyang might now consider detonating a hydrogen bomb outside its territory.