China urges Korean Peninsula caution

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beiijing on Tuesday that parties involved in the Korean Peninsula should be cautious in their words and deeds as the situation there remains extremely fragile.

Hong told a daily briefing that China hopes the parties proceed from the general situation and do more things that are conducive to easing the situation and to resumption of the six-party talks.

Tensions have been heightened on the peninsula in recent weeks, during which the DPRK fired a volley of missiles, the two Koreas fired artillery shells into each other's waters, and Pyongyang threatened to conduct a "new form" of nuclear test in response to what it said was continued hostility from the United States.

The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Monday reaffirmed the UN Security Council's "unanimous condemnation" of the DPRK's recent ballistic missile launches as a violation of Security Council resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094.

At a meeting in Washington on Monday, the U.S. special representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and his Japanese and ROK counterparts restated their commitment to a "verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner."

The United States and its allies have refused to restart the six-party talks until the DPRK shows its commitment to giving up its nuclear program.