Washington: A senior US diplomat on Sunday urged North Korea to refrain from additional missile tests and resume nuclear diplomacy between the countries, days after the North fired-off its first underwater-launched ballistic missile in two years.Sung Kim, the top US official on North Korea affairs, spoke after meeting with South Korean officials to discuss North Koreaās recent missile tests that have come amid a long-running stalemate in nuclear diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang.
We call on the DPRK to cease these provocations and other destabilizing activities, and instead, engage in dialogue, Kim told reporters, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic Peopleās Republic of Korea.
We remain ready to meet with the DPRK without preconditions and we have made clear that the United States harbours no hostile intent towards the DPRK, he said.
Meanwhile,Ā North Korea and China will continue their invincible friendly relations for a common cause , Pyongyang’s official newspaper said on Monday, marking the 71st anniversary of Beijing’s participation in the 1950-52 Korean War.
Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, vowed for the continuation of the ties between the two socialist countries forged during the three-year war, reports Yonhap News Agency.
The invincible friendship (between the North and China) established by blood will be firmly handed down on the road toward a common cause, it said.
China’s People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) fought alongside the North against South Korea, US-led UN troops during the conflict that ended in an armistice on July 27, 1953.
The everlasting accomplishments and heroic deeds of the PVA martyrs, who unsparingly gave up their youth and lives, will continue to shine along with the history of friendship between North Korea and China, it added.
North Korea has been seeking to boost rapport with its traditional ally amid an impasse in nuclear negotiations with the US.