As Saturday will mark the passing of 15 years since participating countries in the six-party talks agreed on the denuclearization of North Korea, Beijing is calling for a renewal of their spirit.
During a regular media briefing on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked about the 15th anniversary of the September 19 Joint Statement, which was issued during the Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks in Beijing in 2005.
Wang said the joint declaration has produced important outcomes by reflecting each concerned country’s will to politically solve Korean Peninsula issues, and called it a “landmark” agreement.
He said despite recent changes in peninsula-related circumstances, the statement’s goals and the idea of resolving each party’s concerns equally and simultaneously remains valid, urging the spirit of the statement to be used again as a mirror to reflect the present.
Calling for the continued pursuit of political solutions, the spokesman also relayed Beijing’s wish to make efforts for lasting peace on the peninsula and the Northeast Asian region.
The statement jointly signed by the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia affirmed the goal of a “verifiable denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula. In the statement, the North also committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and nuclear programs and returning to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The multilateral talks, however, have been suspended since 2008.