China says 'imperative' to hold talks on N.Korea

BEIJING: China on Tuesday urged a reluctant United States, South Korea and Japan to "take seriously" its call for emergency talks over the Korean peninsula crisis, saying it was crucial to defuse the tension.

"Under the circumstances it is imperative and important to bring the issue back to the track of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"We believe parties concerned will take our proposal seriously and react positively."

Hong did not single out the United States, South Korea or Japan, but all three have responded coolly to China's call for an emergency meeting after North Korea's deadly artillery bombardment of a South Korean island.

China had come under growing international pressure to step in forcefully to restrain the unpredictable North Korean regime after last week's attack, which left four people dead.

Beijing has refused to take sides against its close ally.

Instead, on Sunday it proposed bringing together the envoys of the stalled six-nation talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament some time in the first 10 days of December for "emergency consultations" in Beijing.

However, he stressed that would not mean a restart of the troubled six-party talks -- the long-running denuclearisation negotiations hosted by Beijing and which include the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia.

The talks secured a 2007 deal under which North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities in exchange for fuel aid. But Pyongyang pulled out of the forum in April 2009 and conducted its second nuclear test a month later.

A return to the negotiating table "at an early date is in the common interest of all parties and is also the common aspiration of the international community," Hong said.

Chinese state-controlled media on Tuesday said the emergency talks were the only way to avoid full-scale war on the Korean peninsula.

"The only feasible way to... avoid iron and blood remoulding the political future of the Korean peninsula is for everybody to sit down and discuss their concerns and demands," an editorial carried in the Global Times newspaper said.

But Washington on Monday brushed aside China's call, saying it would amount to a "PR activity" unless Pyongyang changed its behaviour. South Korea and Japan also have balked.

Beijing is Pyongyang's closest ally and a vital source of economic and other support for the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

Amid the tension, two top North Korean officials arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, according to reports.

They were Kim Yong-Il, a top official with North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, and Choe Thae-Bok, chairman of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, Japanese and South Korean news reports said.

Japan's foreign ministry also said it was sending its top envoy on North Korea, Akitaka Saiki, to China on Tuesday, where he will meet his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei.

Hong, the foreign ministry spokesman, declined to provide details of the visits, saying only that China "keeps in contact with all parties in various ways."