China continues to maintain its longstanding position on ensuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, though Beijing has stopped short of explicitly expressing its support for the denuclearization of North Korea, officials in Seoul said Thursday. The remarks came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not refer to the "denuclearization" of the peninsula during a meeting in Seoul the previous day, instead pledging to work toward "peace and stability," a slight shift in wording that China has maintained recently. In his opening remarks during the ministerial meeting, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun outlined Seoul's efforts to achieve denuclearization and peace on the peninsula and called for China's role in encouraging Pyongyang to return to dialogue. Wang, however, did not mention denuclearization in his remarks, instead saying China would continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace and stability on the peninsula. "China has emphasized that its policy toward the Korean Peninsula maintains continuity and stability and that there has been no change in its position. It reaffi