China calls for urgent talks in bid to defuse Korea tensions

Beijing's top nuclear envoy called for the meeting among the six countries involved in the stalled North Korean nuclear disarmament talks to calm tempers over North Korea's artillery barrage last Tuesday that killed four people on South Korea's front-line island of Yeonpyeong.

Nuclear envoy Wu Dawei said in a statement that the international community, particularly members of the six-party talks – the two Koreas, Japan, the US, China and Russia – were deeply concerned about recent developments. He called for an emergency meeting of chief nuclear negotiations in China in early December.

However, it was unclear whether the proposal would be accepted. Seoul and Washington have resisted restarting the disarmament-for-aid talks until Pyongyang shows a concrete commitment to denuclearisation.

South Korea responded cautiously. The foreign ministry said in a statement that the proposal should be "reviewed very carefully" and noted that North Korea's recent revelation of a new uranium-enrichment facility had a "negative effect" on efforts to resume the talks. The facility, shown to a visiting Western scientists earlier this month, could signal an expansion of the North's nuclear weapons programme.

The troubled relations between the two Koreas, which fought a three-year war in the 1950s, have steadily deteriorated since a conservative government took power in Seoul in 2008 with a tough new policy towards the nuclear-armed North.

Eight months after the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, North Korean troops showered artillery on Yeonpyeong, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians and wounding 18 others.

North Korea blamed the South for provoking the attack by holding artillery drills near the Koreas' maritime border, and has steadily threatened to be "merciless" if war games get too close to its territory.

As US and South Korean ships – including the nuclear-powered USS George Washington – sailed into the waters off Korea's west coast yesterday, China began launching its diplomatic bid to calm tensions.

Washington and Seoul had been pressing China, North Korea's main ally and benefactor, to help defuse the situation amid fears of all-out war.

Chinese state councillor Dai Bingguo made a last-minute visit to Seoul to confer with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Mr Lee pressured Mr Dai to contribute to peace in a "more objective, responsible" matter, and warned that Seoul would respond "strongly" to any further provocation, Mr Lee's office said in a statement.

The strong words were Mr Lee's first public comment in days. He was due to address the nation this morning amid calls from his people to take tougher action against the defiant North. Pyongyang, with Beijing's backing, has shown an eagerness to get back to the talks.

Hours earlier, the rattle of new artillery fire from North Korea sent residents, journalists, police and troops on Yeonpyeong scrambling for cover. None of the rounds landed on the island, but the incident showed how tense the situation remains.

POLL THREAT TO US TROOPS ON ISLAND

Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa are choosing between two governorship candidates campaigning for the removal of a controversial US marine base.

Both candidates want the base relocated from the island and whatever the outcome of the vote, the alliance between Washington and Tokyo will probably be tested by the new governor.

A 2006 deal between the US and Japan to relocate the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a less crowded location on Okinawa has stalled because of strong local opposition.