U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said on Wednesday that the United States and China can continue to work together on North Korea despite tensions between Washington and Beijing.  

Biegun made the remark in a written testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ahead of a hearing on U.S. policy on China the same day.

The deputy secretary said that North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs undermine the countries’ shared strategic interest in peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Biegun, who doubles as the top U.S. envoy for North Korea, said that while there is more China could do to enforce and prevent evasion of sanctions, the U.S. will continue to engage the country to improve its implementation of UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.

But he also acknowledged that China has reduced trade with North Korea and made efforts to urge Pyongyang to engage with the United States in the “diplomatic process to bring peace and prosperity to all who live on the Korean Peninsula."

[Photo : YONHAP News]