BEIJING (TIP): A Foreign Ministryspokesman called for calm andrestraint from all concerned partieson Thursday after the DemocraticPeople’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)vowed to conduct “a higher-levelnuclear test.””It is in the common interests of allparties concerned to maintain peaceand stability on the Korean Peninsulaand achieve the denuclearization ofthe peninsula,” spokesman Hong Leisaid at a regular news briefing.”(We) hope all concerned partieswill keep calm and act in a cautiousand prudent way, as well as refrainfrom taking any action that could leadto the progressive escalation oftensions,” the spokesman said.

The DPRK National DefenseCommission issued a statement inresponse to a resolution adoptedTuesday by the UN Security Councilthat condemns a DPRK satellitelaunch that took place in December2012.”We will not hide the fact that avariety of satellites and long-rangerockets will be launched and a nucleartest of a higher level will be carriedout during the next phase of the anti-U.S. struggle,” said a statementcarried by the KCNA news agency.The 15-member UN SecurityCouncil on Tuesday unanimouslyapproved Resolution 2087, whichrequires the DPRK to comply with allrelevant resolutions approved by theSecurity Council and to refrain fromusing ballistic missile technology forany launches.The resolution also suggests seeking apeaceful, diplomatic and politicalsolution for related issues and advocatesthe renewal of the six-party talks.

TheNational Defense Commission alsodeclared that the six-party talks, as wellas a related Sept. 19, 2005 jointstatement, will “no longer exist,” addingthat the UN Security Council “has beenreduced to an organization bereft ofimpartiality and balance.” Hong said thesix-party talks are still an effectivemechanism to realize thedenuclearization of the peninsula.The six-party talks, a negotiationmechanism that includes the DPRK,the Republic of Korea (ROK), theUnited States, China, Japan andRussia, were launched in 2003, butstalled in December 2008. The DPRKquit the talks in April 2009.

Hong said all concerned partiesshould boost dialogues in order toaddress their concerns, as well asimplement all of the goals set in theSept. 19, 2005 joint statement.In the joint statement, the DPRKcommitted to abandoning all nuclearweapons and existing nuclearprograms and returning, at an earlydate, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons andto International Atomic EnergyAgency safeguards.The United States affirmed that ithas no nuclear weapons on the KoreanPeninsula and has no intention toattack or invade the DPRK withnuclear or conventional weapons. TheROK reaffirmed its commitment notto receive or deploy nuclear weaponsin accordance with the 1992 JointDeclaration of the Denuclearization ofthe Korean Peninsula, while alsoaffirming that no nuclear weaponsexist within its territory.”China is ready to make joint effortswith the international community toachieve these goals,” Hong said.