'US, South Korea deliberately stir up tensions': China warns against 'provoking confrontation' with North Korea

China has issued a stern warning to the US and South Korea on Thursday - mere hours after top leaders alluded to "the end" of Kim Jong Un's regime. Beijing warned the allied nations against "provoking confrontation" with North Korea, calling for all involved parties to play a ‘constructive’ role. The remark comes amid President Yoon Suk Yeol's six-day state visit to the US.

"All parties should face up to the crux of the (Korean) peninsula issue and play a constructive role in promoting a peaceful settlement of the issue," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. The official urged against "deliberately stirring up tensions, provoking confrontation and playing up threats".

Following their meeting, Biden and Yeol also announced plans to deploy a US nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time since 1981. The two sides also agreed that the US security shield for South Korea would be strengthened in the face of the nuclear-armed North's missile tests.

US officials have described the new arrangement as akin to moves last witnessed when Washington oversaw the defence of Europe against the Soviet Union.

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Meanwhile Beijing asserted that the US "ignores regional security and insists on exploiting the peninsula issue to create tension." The spokesperson said that the move would “aggravate tensions on the peninsula, undermine regional peace and stability, and run counter to the goal of denuclearization on the peninsula”.

"What the US is doing ... provokes confrontation between camps, undermines the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the strategic interests of other countries," Mao said.

(With inputs from agencies)