China urged South Korea and the US on Monday to act for the benefit of peace and stability of the Korean peninsula with the current peninsula situation being “highly sensitive and complicated,” according to a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry.

“As maintaining the peace and stability is in line with the benefits of many parties concerned in this region, we hope that the relevant parties could do things which could help to release the tension in this region and to maintain the peace and stability of this region, instead of the opposite,” said Hua Chunying during a press conference in Beijing.

Hua’s remark came as South Korea and the United States on Monday kicked off their annual military exercise, codenamed Key Resolve which runs through March 24, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News.

The computer-simulated exercise between the two allies followed the launch on March 1 of the joint field training drill with the codename of Foal Eagle that will last by the end of next month.

The Key Resolve is U.S.-South Korea military exercise intended reinforce the presence of the U.S. armed forces in the Korean Peninsula in times of military conflict and repel possible attack from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

During a recent press conference, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi has reiterated China’s stance on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and called on the US and South Korea to ease tensions in the region by suspending annual joint military exercises that antagonize North Korea, in exchange for Pyongyang halting its nuclear program.

"We may follow the dual-track approach of denuclearizing the peninsula on the one hand and establishing a peace mechanism on the other," Wang said.

“We think it is an objective, fair, reasonable and feasible thought, and we hope that relevant parties could take serious consideration of China’s proposal and give constructive responses,” Hua said on Monday.

It is reported that the Key Resolve drill will conduct the first computer simulation of operating the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system battery, which local media outlets estimated would be deployed in southeast South Korea as early as next month.

China has also repeatedly expressed its opposition to the deployment of the THAAD system, which the country regards as a threat.

During the press conference, Wang also called on South Korea to cease the deployment of the system and called the introduction of the THAAD an obvious mistake, which will not only hurt the interest of neighboring countries, but also threaten the security of South Korea itself.