Beijing has called on Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul to "be cautious" amid rising tension on the Korean Peninsula, after the official news agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea reported on Friday that the country's leader, Kim Jong-un, had said the military should be ready to deploy nuclear warheads at any time for national defense.

Kim also said the DPRK will take corresponding military measures in a "pre-emptive manner" against any enemies that pose a war threat, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei called for "exercising restraint and caution in words and actions" and "avoiding further escalation of the tense situation".

He also voiced Beijing's "resolute opposition" as Washington and Seoul are set to start discussions on deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, an advanced missile defense system, in the Republic of Korea.

"We urge the relevant countries to be cautious in actions and they should not damage China's strategic security interests," Hong said.

Earlier this week, the UN Security Council approved a new resolution imposing tough sanctions on the DPRK because of its nuclear and missile programs.

Zhang Yunling, a senior researcher on Asia-Pacific studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the peninsula situation is "undergoing a period of risks". As Washington and Seoul have planned military drills in April, Pyongyang might react further, and the standoff on the peninsula will continue, Zhang added.

"There will be no winner if a massive conflict takes place there," Zhang said.

Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the annual session of the country's top legislature, said on Friday that China will "strictly abide by" the latest UN resolution.

Addressing the first news conference of the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, Fu rejected allegations that China has not abided by previous UN Security Council resolutions regarding the DPRK.

Fu noted that there has been only a truce, and not a peace treaty, to cover the Korean Peninsula after hostilities ended more than 60 years ago. "Isn't this bizarre?" she said.

"The Korean Peninsula has long been a weak link of East Asia security", and as for the resolution, China "upholds peace talks, resolving (the issue) through the Six-Party Talks," Fu added.

Cheng Yonghua, China's ambassador to Japan, echoed President Xi Jinping's recent calls that "there should be no war or chaos on the Korean Peninsula".

"Not any single one of the relevant parties" — including the DPRK, the US and the ROK — is expected to take actions that will dampen the situation,'' Cheng said.