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BEIJING — Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed Wednesday that North Korea deserves fresh sanctions after its latest nuclear test, but appeared as far apart as ever on how far to push Pyongyang.

After Kerry and Wang talked for almost five hours, a session that continued over lunch, the two diplomats appeared before reporters with tension written across their faces. Wang drummed his fingers on the side of his podium as a grim-faced Kerry excoriated the actions of North Korea and its erratic leader, Kim Jong Un.

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Kerry used unusually forceful language about the dangers posed by Pyongyang. Wang repeatedly mentioned the need for stability on the Korean Peninsula. While both agreed more sanctions are warranted, they said that the details would have to be resolved in talks at the United Nations Security Council in coming days.

“Kim Jong Un’s actions are reckless and they are dangerous,” Kerry said of the leader whose regime has been backed by China for six decades. “Whether or not he achieved the explosion of a hydrogen weapon is not what makes the difference. It’s that he is trying.”