China calls on N. Korea to halt tests and S. Korea & U.S. to halt military drills

중국 왕이 외교부장 "북한은 미사일 발사 중단.. 한미는 연합훈련 중단해야"

Moving to the latest on China's furious reaction to the THAAD missile defense system's arrival on South Korean soil.
While China is calling on its ally North Korea to stop its provocations and come back to talks,... the country's foreign minister has reiterated that Beijing cannot accept the deployment.
Connie Kim has more.
China has called on North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear tests and for the U.S. and South Korea to stop their ongoing military drills in a bid to ease tensions in the region.
Speaking on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described Washington and Pyongyang as "two accelerating trains coming toward each other, with neither side willing to give way."

"As a first step, North Korea could suspend its nuclear and missile activities, in exchange for a halt of the large-scale U.S.-South Korea exercises. This suspension-for-suspension can help us break out of the security dilemma and bring the parties back to the negotiating table."

The foreign minister went on to say the dual suspension would bring all sides closer to both denuclearizing the peninsula and establishing peace.
Wang said China hopes to continue its cooperative relationship with South Korea this year marking their 25th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties,... but reiterated the country's opposition to the U.S. missile defense system THAAD,... saying it is the biggest obstacle to the development of relations between Seoul and Beijing.

"It’s common knowledge that the monitoring and early warning radius of THAAD reaches far beyond the Korean peninsula and undermines China’s strategic security. So clearly deploying THAAD is a wrong choice."

Wang also implied that there would be no trilateral summit between South Korea, China and Japan unless the THAAD row were resolved.
The last time the three leaders met was in 2015, breaking a three-year hiatus due to political and historical disputes.
Connie Kim, Arirang News.

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