'North Korea as a Nuclear State' Mentioned by US Defense Nominee... China Says "No Change in Position on the Korean Peninsula"

China reiterated its position that efforts by all parties are necessary for the political resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue, without explicitly mentioning 'denuclearization.'

Yonhap News

Guo Zhaokun, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded on the 16th during a briefing regarding candidate Hegseth's reference to 'nuclear-armed states' at a confirmation hearing, stating, "There has been no change in China's fundamental position on the Korean Peninsula issue."

Earlier, on the 14th (local time), U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth referred to North Korea as a 'nuclear power.' While this differs from the internationally recognized nuclear weapon states, it acknowledges North Korea as a country that effectively possesses nuclear weapons capability.

Spokesperson Guo said, "China has consistently believed that safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula and promoting a political resolution of the peninsula issue align with the common interests of all parties," adding, "We hope that all parties will make joint efforts toward this goal."

China's recent official stance on the North Korean nuclear issue reaffirms the 'prescription' for the Korean Peninsula issue mentioned by Wang Yi, Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office of the Chinese Communist Party (also Minister of Foreign Affairs), at a press conference with domestic and foreign media last March. This includes the dual-track approach (simultaneous promotion of denuclearization and a North Korea-U.S. peace agreement) and the principles of phased and simultaneous progress.

However, at the 9th China-Japan-South Korea Summit held in Seoul last May, unlike the 8th summit in 2019 which declared 'denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula' as a joint goal, there was no mention of trilateral agreement on the North Korean or nuclear threat.

At that time, when asked whether 'denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula' was removed from the joint goals due to China's opposition, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded, "There has been no change in China's fundamental position on the Korean Peninsula issue." Although China did not explicitly mention 'denuclearization,' this was interpreted as indicating that China maintains its stance on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.