China calls for urgent Korea talks

China, North Korea's ally and neighbour to the north,has called for an emergency meeting in Beijing next month to calm tensions between the twoKoreas asU.S. forces and South Korea hold joint military exercises.

Chinese envoy Wu Dawei saidSunday thatchief negotiators insix-countrytalks are being asked to come to Beijing in early December for the emergency session "to exchange views on major issues of concern to the parties at present."

A South Korean Foreign Ministry statement said the Chinese proposal for talks involving thetwo Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russiawould be "reviewed very carefully."

Theaircraft carrierUSS George Washington and a South Korean destroyer took up positions in theYellow Sea on Sunday formilitary exercises that were a united show of force just days after a deadly North Korean artillery attack.

North Korea's state-run KRT television stationcarried a statement from the National Peace Committee of Korea saying the "aggression" ofU.S.-South Korean forces was putting the Korean peninsula in a "state of ultra-emergency."

Confrontation erupted last weekafter North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong,near their flashpoint maritime border, killingtwocivilians and two South Korean marines.The attack was one of the worst assaults on South Korean territory since the 1950-53 Korean War.

South Korea's marine commander promisedSaturdayto exact revenge on North Korea.Lt.-Gen.Yoo Nak Joon spoke of "a thousand-fold revenge" and saidSouth Koreans "will put our feelings of rage and animosity in our bones."

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with commenting, which we are working to resolve. Our apologies for the inconvenience.