US-S. Korea reject China’s request to hold emergency six-party talks with N Korea

WASHINGTON - The United States, South Korea and Japan have reportedly rejected China’s request to hold emergency six-party talks with North Korea over the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, saying that taking such a step would be like rewarding Pyongyang for its provocative behaviour over the past week, including the deadly attacks on a South Korean island and its disclosure of a uranium enrichment plant.

Earlier this month, China had urged members of the six-nation talks, including the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia, to hold an emergency meeting on North Korean nuclear disarmament to bring peace and stability to Northeast Asia.

The New York Times quoted the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs as saying that America and other members are not interested in “stabilizing the region through a series of P.R. activities”.

He said that the talks “without an understanding and agreement from the North Koreans to both end their behaviour as they exhibited last week, but also to come to the table with a seriousness of purpose on the denuclearisation issue-without that seriousness of purpose, they’re just a P.R. activity.”

Japan is also reportedly sceptical of China’s offer, with a spokesman for the Japanese Prime Minister saying that while the country is cautiously reviewing Beijing’s offer, talks hinge on whether North Korea changes it behaviour, the paper said.

The United States had earlier urged China to signal clearly that North Korea’s aggressive behaviour would not be tolerated, but Beijing remained neutral over the issue and offered to hold the emergency talks instead.

Earlier, on Tuesday, North Korean artillery shells had killed two marines and destroyed several houses and other buildings on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. (ANI)