U.S. rejects Chinese proposal for reducing tension in Korean peninsula

The United States has rejected China's proposal to reduce tension in the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. State Department's acting spokesman Mark Toner said defence cooperation between the United States and South Korea cannot be compared to the blatant disregard that North Korea has shown to international laws.

Toner further said that all previous attempts to pursuade North Korea to halt its nuclear programme have failed and there is a need to find new ways to engage.

He said Washington is open to having a dialogue with North Korea, but the onus is on Pyongyang to take meaningful actions toward secularisation and refrain from provocations.

 

China had yesterday proposed a formula to avoid a head-on collision between the US and North Korea, suggesting that North Korea suspend its nuclear programme and the US and the South stop their military exercises in the tensed peninsula.

Beijing cautioned both Washington and Pyongyang that they are clearly heading for a "head-on collision" as neither side is willing to back down from its stance, especially on nuclear matters.

China issued the caution in the wake of North Korea launching four ballistic missiles and the United States deploying the first components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system (THAAD) in South Korea.

According to CNN, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi cautioned the U.S. against the deployment of a controversial missile defense system in South Korea, which is strongly opposed by Beijing.

However, he did not mince words in rebuking North Korea, saying that Pyonyang should suspend its nuclear weapons program.

"The two sides are like two accelerating trains coming towards each other. The question is, are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision? Nuclear weapons will not bring security. The use of force is no solution. Talks deserve another chance and peace is still within our grasp," Wang told reporters in Beijing.

Wang's remarks came a day after the THAAD missile defense system had arrived in South Korea. Pictures released by the United States showed the first pieces of the ballistic missile defense technology being unloaded at Osan Air Base in South Korea on Monday night.