(Reuters) — China’s nuclear envoy arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday (February 2), the North’s KCNA news agency reported, amid a push by the United States and South Korea for tougher sanctions on the North after its fourth nuclear test.
China’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Wu Dawei was expected to hold discussions with the North Koreans on the nuclear issue after his arrival, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported from the North Korean capital.
Footage provided by KCNA, which cannot be independently verified by Reuters, showed Wu arriving at Pyongyang International Airport with other Chinese delegates, and being greeted by a North Korean foreign ministry official.
Neither Kyodo nor KCNA gave further details. China’s foreign ministry did not give an immediate comment.
North Korea is believed to be making preparations for a test launch of a long-range rocket, U.S. officials have said, after activity at its test site was observed by satellite.
North Korea has said it has a sovereign right to pursue a space programme by launching rockets. But the United Nations sees that activity as a missile programme in disguise.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Monday (January 1) that Wu met his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim, last week following U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Beijing. Wu met his South Korean counterpart last month.
Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week agreed on the need for a significant new U.N. Security Council resolution against the North, but there were few signs of progress on agreeing on the details.
Wang rejected as “groundless speculation” remarks by U.S. officials that China, using its influence as the North’s main economic benefactor and political backer, could do more to press North Korea and must end “business as usual”.
China disapproves of the North’s nuclear programme and says it is making great efforts to achieve denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
Pressure grew on China after the North detonated a nuclear device on Jan. 6, calling it a successful hydrogen bomb test, although the claim was met with scepticism by U.S. and South Korean officials and nuclear experts, who said the blast was too small for it to have been a full-fledged hydrogen bomb.
North Korea is already under a wide array of international sanctions for its nuclear programme. The U.S. House of Representatives responded to the latest test with a vote last month to pass legislation that would broaden sanctions.
