China: N. Korea says denuclearization remains goal

BEIJING — North Korea’s foreign minister said his country remains committed to ending its nuclear weapons program in talks Friday with his Chinese counterpart, according to China’s foreign ministry.

The talks in Beijing between Ri Yong Ho and Wang Yi came amid a lack of progress in international efforts to persuade North Korea to reverse its drive to build a nuclear arsenal.

China is North Korea’s most important ally, but has agreed to increasingly strict United Nations economic sanctions over the North’s programs to develop nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them.

Ritoldwangthatnorthkoreais “committed to realizing denuclearization and safeguarding the peace and stability of the (Korean) peninsula,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a daily briefing.

In the talks, Ri was also expected to have been briefed on discussions last week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently said his next meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would likely happen in January or February.

Despite optimism generated by Kim and Trump’s June summit meeting in Singapore, diplomacy has come to a halt amid disputes overau.s.demandthatnorthkorea first produce a full inventory of its nuclear weapons and take other denuclearization steps before winning significant outside rewards.

China, which fought on North Korea’s behalf in the 1950-53 Korean War, has suggested a more staggered approach, including a suspension of large-scale South Korean and U.S. war games on the peninsula.

In addition to sanctions relief, North Korea wants a declaration on a formal close to the war and other measures from the United States.