Russia and China pressure North Korea

MOSCOW - Russia and China have urged North Korea to head off a looming diplomatic crisis in its nuclear negotiations with the rest of the world after reports that Pyongyang is preparing to test a ballistic missile.

Moscow summoned North Korea's ambassador to explain the US reports which say Pyongyang has prepared a missile for launch, while China urged North Korea and Washington to find a breakthrough in talks over North Korea's missile programme.

The public comments by the veto-wielding UN Security Council members, who usually try to soften Western criticism of Pyongyang, underlined the growing tension over North Korea that has hit financial markets, prompted Japan to muster naval ships and the United States to activate a missile defence system.

"It was stressed that any steps that could negatively impact regional stability and complicate the quest for a way to settle the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula were undesirable," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

China appealed for calm on Thursday and said North Korea's claim to have a sovereign right to test its missiles, and US criticism that a test would violate existing agreements, were making the problem difficult to resolve.

"We hope that the related parties will resolve this problem through negotiations and dialogue," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said in an interview with South Korea's Mail Business Newspaper.

North Korea said on Wednesday it wanted new direct talks with the United States. Washington rejected the proposal and demanded Pyongyang return to stalled multilateral talks aimed at persuading the North to abandon its nuclear arms programme in return for aid and security promises.

US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said on Thursday that Washington was committed to a diplomatic solution and ready for negotiations, and accused Pyongyang of dragging its heels over starting multi-party talks.

The United States has been saying for about a week there is evidence North Korea may test-fire its Taepodong-2 missile and on Thursday Japan's defence minister said Tokyo had mobilised naval vessels and aircraft to gather information.

"North Korea's diplomacy has basically been one of brinkmanship," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said.

Anxiety over the standoff spooked financial markets, pushing the yen down against the dollar on a rumour - later denied - that a US military plane had crashed in the North.

"There is no merit for North Korea" in launching a missile, Aso said in an interview. "We have told them we will take harsh measures if they do it."

Spokesmen for US forces in Japan and South Korea as well as for the South Korean and Japanese military said they had not heard of any plane crash.

The rumour emerged after Pyongyang's KCNA news agency warned that chances of an aerial conflict with the United States had grown because of US spy flights over the secretive state.

"The US imperialist warmongers have been intensifying military provocations against the DPRK (North Korea) of late," KCNA said in a report. "The ceaseless illegal intrusion of the planes has created a grave danger of military conflict in the air above the region."

Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, joining the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia, have been stalled since November after Washington cracked down on firms suspected of helping Pyongyang's illicit activities such as counterfeiting.

- Reuters