N Korea: Russia, China oppose intervention

RUSSIA: Russia and China have expressed opposition to any foreign military intervention in North Korea over Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test.

Condemning the East Asian nation’s recent nuclear test, the foreign ministers of the two countries said on Friday that any measure against Pyongyang must be agreed upon at the United Nations.

On February 12, North Korea announced that it had successfully carried out its third underground nuclear test, which involved a “miniaturized” device and was conducted in a “perfect manner.”

The nuclear test drew immediate condemnation from the UN and several countries including the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan.

“The UN Security Council should give an adequate response ... but the action should be directed towards peace on the Korean peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Russia’s capital, Moscow.

Meanwhile, Lavrov added that Moscow and Beijing believe that it is “vitally important not to ... allow the situation to be used as a pretext for military intervention.”

North Korea had carried out two previous nuclear tests on October 9, 2006 and May 25, 2009.

On January 22, the UN Security Council decided to impose new sanctions on North Korea in an effort to punish the East Asian country for launching a long-range rocket in December 2012.

Meanwhile, in response to the nuclear test, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice has said that North Korea should expect “increasing isolation and pressure.”

PRESS TV