North Korean arms trade is China’s problem too: U.S. official

North Korea’s destabilizing behavior should be a major concern for Beijing, a senior U.S. State Department official said Tuesday.

China should be condemning North Korea’s “deepening cooperation” with Russia, including shipping ballistic missiles to President Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine, said Jung Pak, the U.S. senior official for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as North Korea is officially known.

“The DPRK issue is China’s problem, as well,” Pak said in an interview. “It’s not just our problem. China has a role to play and it has influence.”