China on Friday expressed its concern over the declaration by the DPRK to drop out of the NPT, while promising to continue to work on the peaceful settlement of nuclear issues of the DPRK.

"We are concerned about the DPRK's announcement to withdraw from the treaty, as well as consequences possibly caused by the withdrawal," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in Beijing Friday.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin said direct dialogue between the United States and the DPRK was the best way to end their tense nuclear standoff.

The DPRK on Friday announced its NPT withdrawal, while saying it had no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

The DPRK government also rejected a resolution by the IAEA on Jan. 6 when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ordered the DPRK to readmit its monitors who were expelled on New Year's Eve. The inspectors were monitoring a nuclear reactor suspected of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.

The South Korea government on Friday also expressed "deep concerns" and "disappointment" over the DPRK's decision.

Seok Tong-youn, spokesman for the South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, voiced the declaration after the government convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), presided over by Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun, on counter-measures against the hot issue.

South Korea demanded that the DPRK rescind its dangerous decision of withdrawing from the NPT as "it may threaten the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

Earlier Friday, incumbent South Korean President Kim Dae-jung stressed that the "life or death situation" should be solved through dialogue and diplomatic ways.

The country's President-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, also urged the DPRK to give up the decision and prevent further escalation of the nuclear crisis.

On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed "deep concern" over the DPRK's withdrawal, saying such a move would harm global and regional security.

"There is no doubt that such a step can only aggravate the already tense atmosphere around the Korean Peninsula, and strike a significant blow at the universal international legal mechanism for the provision of global and regional security," the ministry said in a statement.

Moscow hoped the DPRK would listen to the unanimous opinion of the world community, and its partners and neighbors, as well as abide by its commitments to non-proliferation and to "equal and mutually beneficial dialogue" with all interested parties, the statement said.

The Foreign Ministry's spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said Moscow would further study the world situation after the DPRK's withdrawal and would issue an official statement in the near future.

The Japanese government on Friday called on the DPRK to rescind its decision to withdraw from the NPT, Japan's Kyodo News reported.

"We strongly urge and demand that the DPRK swiftly withdraw this declaration of pulling out of the NPT and the safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called the withdrawal ?extremely regrettable" and said Japan would work closely with other countries "to strongly demand the DPRK reverse its decision immediately."

Vietnam hoped relevant parties would exercise restraint and seek acceptable solutions through dialogue to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula to ensure its peace, stability and nuclear-free status, the Foreign Ministry said.

"We are very concerned about the recent complex development on the Korean Peninsula," Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said on Friday.

The Philippines expressed concern over the issue, and said Pyongyang should not set conditions for reversing its action.

"We reiterate our call for the DPRK to abandon its current actions that point towards a nuclear weapons program and to implement its safeguards in accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency," Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2003)