China urges NKorea nuclear talks nations to honour commitments

BEIJING: China on Tuesday urged countries involved in negotiations aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programmes to honour their commitments after Pyongyang said it had stopped disabling its plants.

"We must emphasise the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the stability and peace of northeast Asia, honour our commitments, strengthen mutual trust, and work together to push the six-party talks," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Six-party talks began in August 2003 between the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, with the aim of persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear programmes.

Under a landmark deal reached last year, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear programmes in exchange for an array of diplomatic incentives and economic aid.

It began disabling the plutonium-producing reactor and other plants at its Yongbyon nuclear complex under US supervision, handed over a declaration of its nuclear activities in June, and blew up the cooling tower at Yongbyon.

But on Tuesday, the reclusive state said it had stopped disabling its nuclear plants on August 14, and would consider restoring the Yongbyon complex to its original state.

It cited the United States' failure to remove it from a terrorism blacklist, which it said violated the six-party agreement.