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In the eyes of DPRK, Washington has spared no efforts to

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Press Trust of India
contain it and flexed its military muscle time and again by holding joint military drills with South Korea and Japan in the region. Yu Sui, professor at the China Centre for Contemporary World Studies, dismisses North Korea's test as "half helplessness and half bluff" meant at raising its "bargaining price", but also lays the responsibility on the US to sort out the crisis. Wang Fan, an expert on Korean studies at the China Foreign Affairs University, tells China Daily that the US and its allies, Japan and South Korea, may exploit Pyongyang's nuclear test as an excuse for a military build-up in the region. "More drills by the US and its allies are possible in a bid to show their firm opposition to the nuclear test and other measures by Pyongyang they call provocative," Wang Fan, an expert on Korean studies at the China Foreign Affairs University said. They will also quicken deployment of anti-missile systems in the name of containing the DPRK Wang told state run China Daily. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Republic of Korea counterpart Kim Sung-hwan talked over the phone and exchanged their views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Yang also talked with US Secretary of State John Kerry. Yang told Kerry that China explicitly stated its position on Pyongyang's nuclear test, urging all parties to keep focused and avoid escalation, according to the Foreign Ministry. All parties concerned should insist on a peaceful solution, resolve the Korean Peninsula issue within the framework of the Six-Party Talks, and maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia, Yang said.

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First Published: Feb 14 2013 | 2:40 PM IST

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