US Secretary of State Hillary "Clinton talked with Chinese State Councilor Dai (Bingguo) today about the North Korea situation," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told AFP when asked about China's appeal.

"We will continue to consult with others, including China, on a future course. Meanwhile, North Korea needs to cease its provocative behavior. That is a critical first step," he said in an email exchange.

Wu Dawei, China's top North Korea envoy, said China "proposes to have emergency consultations among the heads of delegation to the six-party talks in early December in Beijing to exchange views on major issues of concern..."

It was China's most detailed response yet to the crisis sparked by North Korea's shelling of an island held by the South and came as retaliatory US-South Korean naval exercises criticized by Beijing got underway.

Wu stressed that the consultations did not constitute a formal resumption of the stalled six-nation negotiations on dismantling North Korea's nuclear programs but he hoped they would lead to such a resumption soon.

The six-nation talks involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. The United States has urged North Korea to end what it calls its provocative behavior before talks resume.

China has come under increasing international pressure from the United States, South Korea, Japan and others to step in forcefully to restrain the unpredictable North Korean regime.

However, China, which typically refrains from publicly criticizing its neighbor and longtime ally Pyongyang, had so far only called for restraint from all sides and an early restart to the six-party talks.

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