'China will not sit idle,' says foreign minister Wang Yi

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday China won't adhere to six-way talks to resolve Korean Peninsula issues including the North Korean nuclear problem. At a press conference of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, Wang said, "China is open to three-way, four-way and five-way talks if the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue can be brought to the table again."

His comments come after South Korean President Park Geun-hye proposed five-way talks (excluding North Korea) immediately after the North conducted a nuclear test in January, hinting at China's possible examination of the five-way talks.

Wang said that drugs should be prescribed according to the symptom of illness for a final resolution to the Korean Peninsula issue, adding that a blind faith in sanctions and pressure is simply an irresponsible attitude."

On the situation of the Korean Peninsula where military tensions are rising, Wang quoted a Chinese saying, "With swords drawn and bows bent." "There is a distinct smell of gunpowder due to a tinderbox crisis situation. If we lose control due to tightening tension it will bring disaster to everybody," Wang said. "China and the Korean Peninsula are friends both in joy and sorrow. China won't sit and watch neither the stability of the Korean Peninsula become fundamentally devastated nor China's security suffering losses without a reason."

On the U.N. Security Council's sanctions on North Korea, he said, "(China) has responsibility and ability to sincerely carry out various resolutions including the Resolution 2270," pledging a thorough execution of the resolution.

When a reporter of a state-owned media asked if China will promote an anti-U.S. aid as it had during the Korean War in case of a war in the Korean Peninsula, Wang avoided direct response by saying, "We lay importance on traditional friendship with North Korea. But at the same time, China is firm in our stance of a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula.

베이징=구자룡특파원 bonhong@donga.com