Sung Kim, the US Special Representative for the DPRK, said on Sunday that Washington is calling on Beijing to use its influence on Pyongyang to encourage it to return to the negotiating table, warning adding that the latter's actions in the region would have "consequences".

"It is unfortunate that in recent years the international community has not been able to speak with one voice in condemning the DPRK's reckless and destabilizing activity," Kim said.

"We urge Beijing to use its influence to encourage the DPRK to refrain from further destabilizing behavior and return to the negotiating table," he told the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The US special representative said his country urges China to fulfill what he called its obligations "under the resolutions that UN Security Council members unanimously adopted."

Kim stressed that "it's important to make clear to the DPRK that its escalatory behavior has consequences. The DPRK must also understand that the only viable path forward is through diplomacy."

He warned that any nuclear attack against South Korea would be met with a "swift, overwhelming and decisive" response.

Elsewhere, the US envoy claimed that his country is open to dialogue with Pyongyang and "remains committed to diplomacy."

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