Beijing welcomes Koreas ‘positive’ moves to talk

China has welcomed moves by North and South Korea to use next month’s Winter Olympics in the South as an opportunity for talks, saying it hopes the rivals will try to “meet each other halfway.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters yesterday that China hopes “all sides concerned will seize this positive turn of events.”

South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level talks with North Korea to find ways to cooperate on the Pyeongchang Olympics. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday that he was willing to send a delegation to the Olympics.

Kim also said he has a “nuclear button” on his office desk, a fiery threat that President Donald Trump responded to by boasting he has a bigger and more powerful button than Kim.

Commenting on Trump’s tweet, Geng urged countries to “maintain restraint” and say things that are “conducive to alleviating the situation.”

South Korea says it has begun preliminary contacts with North Korea on a reopened cross-border communication system.  AP