BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that China always supports contact between the United States and North Korea, and that Beijing has always played a positive role in pushing for a resolution of the Korean peninsula issue.

Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the comment at a regular news briefing, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Chinese capital only days after warning he may take an alternative path if the United States does not ease sanctions and pressure on his isolated country.