China promised to faithfully implement U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea and also renewed its commitment to working for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry here said Friday.

   China made the promise in a telephone conversation between its top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei and his South Korean counterpart Kim Hong-kyun, according to the ministry.

   During the telephone talks arranged at the request of China, both discussed North Korea and the threat posed by its nuclear weapons program, the ministry said.

   Wu, in particular, was quoted as saying that China remains steadfast in its pursuit of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and promised it will faithfully carry out UNSC sanctions imposed on the North for its repeated missile and nuclear provocations.