The Prime Minister has suggested New Zealand could possibly join the United States and Australia in defending South Korea if war broke out with North Korea.
John Key is in China, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, before joining a dozen other political leaders for an economic forum in Bo'ao.
Mr Key told TV3 the actions of North Korea are not helpful and are overly provocative.
He said he wouldn't want to speculate, but New Zealand has a long and proud history of coming to the support of South Korea.
He said taken to the extreme, and without interventions and resolutions to the issues, war is of course possible.
North Korea has issued a series of strong threats since it was sanctioned by the United Nations in March for carrying out another nuclear test.
It has formally declared war on the South and pledged to reopen a mothballed nuclear reactor.
