South Korea’s peace and security envoy Lee Do-hoon is to meet with Chinese counterpart Kong Xuanyou today ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Asia amid soaring tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The South Korean official told Yonhap news agency he hoped Seoul and Beijing would be able to discuss a peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis as fears of World War 3 escalate.
Do-hoon said: “Through the meeting, I have high expectations of having extensive conversations and creating a consensus on ways to peacefully resolve the North’s nuclear issue and stably manage the situation.”
Tensions have been high following six escalating missile tests by North Korea, the most powerful of which killed 200 people when part of the test site collapsed in September.
The secretive dictatorship has not carried out any major nuclear tests in recent weeks.
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China yesterday warned North Korea not to detonate another hydrogen bomb at its nuclear test site or risk a huge catastrophe for both Kim’s hermit state and China.
China suggested just one more explosion could blow the top off the nuclear site, causing radioactive waste to escape and blow aross the border into China just 50 miles away.
However the North has nonetheless stoked fears of an attack as it ramped up its aggressive rhetoric, threatening to destroy South Korea, Japan and the US, and insisting its nuclear programme is “a matter of life and death”.
South Korea and China will be hoping to work together to keep the erratic nation in line after resolving a prolonged dispute over US missile defence system used in South Korea.
The two nations’ meeting follows Nato demands for sanctions against North Korea.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged sanctions, claiming North Korea has emerged as a global threat able to fire ballistic missiles as far as Europe and North America.
In a joint announcement with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, he said: “North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear tests are an affront to the United Nations Security Council. They pose a global threat which requires a global response.”
Meanwhile US President Donald Trump is set to visit South Korea on his Asia tour later this week.
Talks about North Korea are expected to dominate a trip that will include a stop in Beijing, where Trump is expected to pressure China’s leadership to act more decisively against Pyongyang. China is North Korea’s major ally and trading partner.
Mr Trump has warned North Korea it would be totally destroyed if it threatened the United States with ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.