China hopes DPRK, US will treasure positive progress

Beijing said on Friday it hopes Pyongyang and Washington will treasure the positive progress gained in the Korean Peninsula and stay committed to solving each other's concerns through talks.

The momentum of dialogue on the peninsula was hard to establish, and there is a rare historic opportunity of finding a political settlement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, after Washington canceled the summit with Pyongyang that was planned for June in Singapore.

All parties involved, including Pyongyang and Washington, have demonstrated their willingness to promote the process of denuclearization in the peninsula through talks, and have invested efforts into achieving the goal, Lu said.

China believes the summit between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States has a key role in the denuclearization process, and hopes the two sides will keep being patient, express goodwill to each other and work together.

US President Donald Trump made the announcement of the summit cancellation in a letter addressed to DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, which was published Thursday.

However, Trump said he very much looked forward to meeting Kim someday.

Kim Kye-Gwan, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, said in a statement issued Friday that the decision to cancel the summit is "not consistent with the desire of humankind for peace and stability in the world".

"We would like to make known to the US side once again that we have the intent to sit with the US side to solve problems regardless of ways at any time," the DPRK diplomat said.

The cancellation came shortly after the DPRK dismantled the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, as well as amid an exchange of tough remarks between the DPRK and the US.

The DPRK announced it would stop its nuclear tests and test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in April and released three US citizens in May.

China fully commends the measures the DPRK has taken this year to demonstrate goodwill, Lu said.