China works to ease Korea situation

BEIJING, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- China's foreign minister met with North Korea's ambassador and worked the phones with U.S. and South Korean officials Friday to try to defuse the Korean crisis.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met directly with North Korean Ambassador Chi Jae Ryong and talked by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, Xinhua reported. The ministry issued a statement saying the parties exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and Yang said China is paying close attention to and is very concerned about this week's artillery attack on a South Korean island that killed four people and Seoul's counter attack, the Chinese news service said.

Yang urged the Koreas to calm down and begin direct contacts quickly to negotiate solutions to their disputes.

"The pressing task now is to put the situation under control and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents," he said.

Yang also said the parties should restart the six-party talks and work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

China also expressed its opposition Friday to military exercises in its exclusive economic zone without permission. The United States and South Korea are to begin joint naval exercises Sunday in the Yellow Sea.

"We hold a consistent and clear-cut stance on the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement. "We oppose any party to take any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission."