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Obama, Xi coordinate response to N. Korea provocations

February 5, 2016
US President Barack Obama, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, both adjust their suit coats during the start of their bilateral meeting at the US Ambassador's Residence in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, March 24, 2014. Obama is in the Netherlands for the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, which will form the backdrop for an emergency meeting of Group of Seven leaders on Russia's annexation of Crimea. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FILE — US President Barack Obama, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, both adjust their suit coats during the start of their bilateral meeting at the US Ambassador’s Residence in Amsterdam, Netherlands on March 24, 2014. U.S. The two spoke by phone Friday and agreed on the importance of a “strong and united international response” to North Korea’s provocations, the White House said. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) agree that a planned ballistic missile test by North Korea would be another “provocative and destabilizing” action in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

North Korea recently announced plans for a rocket launch that could take place as early as next week.

It would follow the government’s announcement of a purported hydrogen bomb test last month.

Obama and Xi spoke by telephone Friday. The White House says they reaffirmed their refusal to accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, as well as to the “complete and verifiable” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The leaders also emphasized the need for a united international response to North Korea’s actions, including through the U.N. Security Council.