FM Spokesman Refutes Reports of DPRK Missile Test

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 26, 2003

FM Spokesman Refutes Reports of DPRK Missile Test

A political and peaceful resolution of the Korean nuclear issue requires the United States to open bilateral and direct dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a Foreign Ministry Spokesman said Tuesday.

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Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan Tuesday refuted allegations that the missile reportedly fired in a test on Monday by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) came from China.

"The accusation is absolutely groundless and irresponsible,'' Kong told a regular briefing.

He said that China has taken "very strict'' export-control measures on weapons of mass destruction (WMD), stressing that "China is a responsible country in this regard.''

The Republic of Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the ROK claimed the DPRK launched a missile into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan on Monday, but the DPRK has denied this. Some Japanese and ROK experts have speculated that the missile came from China.

China issued a regulation on the export-control of dual-use biological agents and related equipment and technologies and subjected lists last October.

The feud over the missile test occurred at a time when US Secretary of State Colin Powell was visiting East Asia over the nuclear issue and attending the inauguration ceremony of ROK President Roh Moo-hyun.

A political and peaceful resolution of the Korean nuclear issue requires the United States to open bilateral and direct dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Foreign Ministry Spokesman said.

Kong said the Agreed Framework reached by the US and the DPRK in 1994 had "taken some effect" and both sides should "make the first move" toward dialogue on equal footing and launch bilateral direct dialogue as soon as possible.

In response to the US proposal to build up a multilateral framework to handle the issue, Kong said an initial consensus should be reached. If any of the relevant parties have differences, the framework could never be established, he added.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said during his latest visit to China that the US firmly believed that the issue was a "multilateral" issue and that "it's China's matter, Japan's matter, Russia's matter, the matter of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and also the US's matter."

The US should "listen more to different voices" on this issue, Kong said.

China's position on the issue remains unchanged, the spokesman noted, and all the relevant parties should work hard to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsular, support the non-nuclearization on the peninsular and solve the problem by political and diplomatic means.

The DPRK said Tuesday a US missile-spotting spy plane intruded into its airspace for four consecutive days.

The North's official KCNA news agency said the RC-135 aircraft was supported by a KC-135 refuelling tanker plane on its missions up and down the east coast of the Korean Peninsula inside DPRK airspace on each of the four days to Monday.

KCNA did not mention whether the North fired a short-range missile out to sea off the east coast on Monday.

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