China urges dialogue on North Korea

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BEIJING, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Beijing supports "prudent" action at the U.N. Security Council regarding North Korea.

North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test Feb. 12, sparking concern about stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing supported a measured response from the Security Council.

"The Security Council's response has been prudent and moderate and should be able to help realize the peninsula's denuclearization and safeguard peace and stability on the peninsula and northeast Asia," she was quoted by China's official Xinhua news agency as saying.

Hua added that peaceful negotiations were the preferred way to allay multilateral concerns.

Frank Rose, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for arms control, said from Tokyo that Washington was considering installing additional missile defense systems in the region to protect Japan from North Korean threats.

"We have deployed a missile defense radar in Japan and we have several U.S. ships operating in the Sea of Japan, with the missile defense mission," he said in a statement.