China has joined South Korea and Japan in strongly condemning North Korea for its latest submarine missile test.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi along with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on Wednesday criticized North Korea for conducting a ballistic missile launch early this week and urged Pyongyang to refrain from "provocative" actions. The foreign ministers from China, Japan, and South Korea held trilateral dialogue in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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"China opposes the developing process of nuclear missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, opposes any remarks and actions that will trigger tension, and opposes all measures that violate the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270," Wang said at a joint press conference with South Korea's foreign minister Yun Byung-se and Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida.

The United States described the submarine missile test as a "provocative destabilizing" action by the Kim Jong-un-led North Korean regime. "I think it should be a pretty good indication to you and everybody else that this is something that we're watching closely," the White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said on Wednesday. "We do continue to be concerned by the provocative destabilizing actions of the North Korean regime."

Washington also asked China to withdraw its objection to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to South Korea after the latest North Korean missile launch. Earnest stressed that the United States has made it clear to China that the missile system would be used for defense against North Korea.

Tagschina, North Korea, Missile Test, Japan, South Korea, THAAD, US