Selasa 19 Sep 2017 21:21 WIB

Threats cannot help resolve Korean peninsula situation

Red: Reiny Dwinanda
A ballistic missile test equipped with a precision guidance system, in an undisclosed location in northern Korea.
Foto: EPA / KCNA
A ballistic missile test equipped with a precision guidance system, in an undisclosed location in northern Korea.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING -- Threatening action or rhetoric cannot help resolve the situation on the Korean peninsula, China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hinted about the existence of military options on North Korea.

The North has repeatedly defied the United Nations to conduct nuclear and missile tests, the latest being a mid-range missile fired over Japan on Friday, soon after the reclusive nation's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.

Asked whether there were any military options the United States could take with North Korea that would not put Seoul at grave risk, Mattis said there were, but declined to give details.

"Developments in the peninsula nuclear issue up to this point prove that, no matter whether it is military threats in words or in action, they cannot promote and advance a resolution," the foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said.