A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Monday rejected a report that China is planning to dispatch troops to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as "sheer fabrication."

Spokesman Hong Lei denied the claims in the report published by Chosun Ilbo, a newspaper in the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The report quoted an ROK official as saying that Beijing and Pyongyang had recently discussed stationing Chinese troops in the northeastern DPRK city of Rason with the purpose of protecting Chinese-invested port facilities and Chinese nationals there.