China wants Korea talks

CHINA called for emergency talks on resolving a crisis on the Korean peninsula yesterday, and Seoul and Tokyo said they would study the proposal, as the US and South Korean militaries started a massive drill.

Beijing’s move to bring the two Koreas to the negotiating table comes after global pressure on China to take a more responsible role in the standoff and try to rein in ally Pyongyang.

China made clear that the talks would not amount to a resumption of six-party disarmament discussions which North Korea walked out of two years ago and declared dead. South Korea said it would carefully consider China’s suggestion.