Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Monday that the six-party talks are an effective mechanism to advance the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and promote peace and stability both on the Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.
The statement came as Yang took the floor at the general debate of the 66th UN General Assembly session, which entered its fifth day here Monday.
"We believe that dialogue and consultation are the only effective way to address the issues of the Korean Peninsula and the Six Party Talks are an effective mechanism to advance the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and uphold peace and stability both on the Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," Yang said.
He noted that China has been working hard to promote peace through dialogue and has played a unique role in easing tension and maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
"China welcomes the recent resumption of dialogue between the DPRK and the ROK and between the DPRK and the U.S.. We hope that the parties concerned will seize the opportunity, remain engaged in dialogue and work for an early resumption of the Six Party Talks," he said.
The six-party talks, involving China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, are a multilateral dialogue mechanism seeking a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
The first round of the six-party talks was held in Beijing in Aug. 2003, in which the principle of peacefully resolving the nuclear issue through negotiations had been established. In 2009, the DPRK withdrew from the six-party talks in response to a UN Security Council presidential statement on its rocket launch.