China army general says North Korea must denuclearize

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A top Chinese army official called on North Korea to move to denuclearization and asked all regional parties to stay calm after the isolated state's nuclear test this week.

"Our hope is that all parties concerned will remain cool-headed and take measures to address the problem," Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army, told a meeting of Asian defense ministers in Singapore on Saturday.

"Our stand on the issue is consistent. We are resolutely opposed to nuclear proliferation. Our view is that the Korean peninsula should move toward denuclearization."

South Korea has said an increasingly aggressive North may be preparing fresh moves after Chinese fishing boats were spotted leaving a disputed sea border dividing the peninsula.

(Reporting by Neil Chatterjee and Saeed Azhar; Editing by Bill Tarrant)