China has made it clear that it is entitled to a role in any summit on replacing the armistice that still halts hostilities on the Korean Peninsula with a permanent peace framework. President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il needled China by agreeing to work for a summit of “the three or four parties directly concerned” to declare an end to the war. China is a signatory to the armistice along with the U.S. and the two Koreas. Beijing on Tuesday also reiterated a permanent peace mechanism can only come once North Korea completes the denuclearization process.

“China, as an important nation in Northeast Asia and also a contracting party to an armistice agreement of the Korean War, will go on playing an active role in the process,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters Tuesday. “Establishing a peace mechanism serves the interests of the people of the Korean Peninsula and the peace, stability and development of the region. China is supportive of the establishment of such a peace mechanism.”

But Liu said it should be pursued in two stages: the first phase should focus on achieving a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, the ultimate goal of six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear problem hosted by Beijing, and a peace regime should come after North Korea completely scraps its nuclear programs and normalizes diplomatic ties with the U.S. and Japan.

(englishnews@chosun.com )