China calls for addressing ‘legitimate concerns’ of North Korea

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – China called for addressing North Korea's "legitimate concerns" on Thursday, only hours after Pyongyang threatened the US with a "fiercer military counteraction" in response to its bolstered offer of extended deterrence to South Korea and Japan.

“China has noticed DPRK’s (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ) position on the US-Japan-South Korea joint statement of extending deterrence to North Korea, wishing all parties to solve each other’s concerns, especially DPRK’s legitimate concerns,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing.

Earlier in the day, North Korea threatened the US with a “fiercer military counteraction” to its "bolstered offer of extended deterrence" to South Korea and Japan, and also fired a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea.

The South Korean military detected the launch in the Wonsan area of Kangwon province.

The missile launch was the first in slightly over a week, with the last missile fired by Pyongyang on Nov. 9.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen further following recent joint military drills conducted by South Korea and the US, as well as North Korean missile tests.

On Thursday morning, North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui strongly reacted to the recent meeting of the leaders of the three countries in the Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia, saying it will eventually result in the Korean Peninsula entering an unpredictable phase.

“I clarify a serious warning stand toward the fact that the US, Japan and South Korea held a three-party summit a few days ago and talked about a ‘bolstered offer of extended deterrence’ and ‘strong and resolute counteraction,’ describing the DPRK's legitimate and just military counteractions, incited by their war drills for aggression, as ‘provocation’,” the North Korean top diplomat said.​​​​​​​