In an with Bloomberg, Mr Turnbull affirmed that China must use its influence to bring Pyongyang "to its senses".
The comments come as Turnbull prepares to give a keynote speech on Friday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which is regarded as one of Asia's biggest security conferences.
North Korea has ramped up its weapons testing program over the past year, and most recently into the sea off its coast on Tuesday.
The rogue state has frequently stated it's goal of developing missile technology that can strike the US mainland.
“China has the greatest leverage over North Korea and with the greatest leverage comes the greatest responsibility,” Turnbull said.
“We look to Beijing to bring the pressure to bear on the regime in Pyongyang, to bring it to its senses so that it ceases threatening the peace of the region with its reckless conduct.”
Turnbull talks North Korea, US relations, Trump
Turnbull also addressed the South China Sea tensions, which has seen Beijing spread its influence across the region by reclaiming land in the region.
“It is important that as China rises, as its economic power grows, as its influence grows, that it does so peacefully and in a manner that respects the rights of all other countries,” Turnbull said.
“It is vitally important that China respects the rule of law and respects the principal that might is not right.”
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Turnbull also reaffirmed that the relationship between Australia and the US was "as strong as a relationship could be".
"Our alliance is stronger than ever, the Australia-US alliance is more important than ever and President Trump and I demonstrated when we were together on the USS Intrepid in New York only a little while ago," he said.
"The commitment of our two nations, based on our history, based on our shared values, based on our mutual interests is stronger than ever."
