North Korea a threat to the world: Kerry

AFP, Beijing :Nuclear-armed North Korea poses an “overt threat, a declared threat to the world”, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Beijing Wednesday following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test earlier this month.Washington is pushing for a strong United Nations response to the North’s latest atomic blast — which Pyongyang said was a miniaturised hydrogen bomb, a claim largely dismissed by experts — with enhanced sanctions.But China, North Korea’s chief diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, is reluctant, despite the pair’s ties becoming strained in recent years as Beijing’s patience wears thin with its neighbour’s ambitions for nuclear weapons.The two powers — both permanent members of the UN Security Council — had agreed to mount an “accelerated effort” to try to resolve their differences on a new resolution, Kerry told a joint press conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that he agreed with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi about the need to reach a consensus on a “strong” resolution against North Korea from the U.N. Security Council.Kerry, speaking to reporters after meeting Wang, said China, the United States and other members of the council were obligated to take action after the Jan.6 nuclear test by North Korea.But he acknowledged that they had not agreed on the “parameters of exactly what it would do or say”.”The United States will do what is necessary to protect the people of our country and our friends and allies in the world,” Kerry added.Wang said that China also backed a new Security Council motion, but added that it “should not provoke new tension in the situation”.Beijing’s ties with Pyongyang were forged in the blood of the Korean War and analysts say its leverage is mitigated by its overriding fear of a North Korean collapse and the prospect of a reunified, US-allied Korea directly on its border.China has a “particular ability… to be able to help us significantly to resolve this threat”, Kerry said, noting that as the North’s main provider of trade and aid it could apply pressure through “movements of ships” and “various resource exchanges”.Wang said he rejected “all groundless speculation or distortion of China’s position”, re-iterating that Beijing was committed to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.China regularly calls for calm in the region, and for the resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks, which bring together the two Koreas, China, the US, Russia and Japan.