US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday urged Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to use his government's clout to get North Korea to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

During discussions on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Hanoi, Clinton also urged Yang to have China pressure North Korea to smooth the way for the Group of 20 summit in South Korea and improve ties with Seoul, a senior US State Department official told reporters.

"We conveyed today the need for China to exert pressure and influence on North Korea, first of all, to behave responsibly in the run-up to the G20 and to take the appropriate steps so that they rebuild trust and relations with South Korea and also return to the six-party talks," the official said.

North Korea said this month that it was ready to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program, but gave no indication of whether it had dropped preconditions including a lifting of sanctions and separate talks with Washington.

Prospects for renewed negotiations have been clouded by South Korean and US accusations that the North torpedoed one of Seoul's warships in March, a charge it denies.

The United States says the North must mend relations with the South and show sincerity about nuclear disarmament before the six-party talks can resume.

A new incident on the Korean peninsula on Friday heightened tensions ahead of the the G20 summit on November 11-12 hosted by Seoul.

North and South Korean troops exchanged fire across their tense border, Seoul's military said, reporting no injuries.

Exchanges of fire break out occasionally near the heavily fortified and closely guarded frontier.

South Korea's military was put on top security alert this week to guard the meeting against any disruptions by North Korea or international terrorists.

earlier related report

History of clashes between North and South Korea
Seoul (AFP) Oct 29, 2010 –

South Korea slapped reprisals against North Korea on Monday, vowing to make the communist state "pay a price" for torpedoing one of its warships in March with the loss of 46 lives.

And President Barack Obama ordered the US military to work closely with South Korea "to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression".

Here is a brief history of clashes between the two Koreas since the 1950-1953 war, which ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty:

January 21, 1968: North Korean commandos stage a raid on Seoul's presidential Blue House in an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung-Hee. They are stopped just 800 metres away. All 32 are killed or captured in subsequent days.

August 15, 1974: North Korean agent fires at Park during a speech. He misses but the shot kills the president's wife. Park continues his speech.

October 9, 1983: The North's agents blow up a landmark in Burma (now Myanmar) just before the visiting South Korean President Chun Hoo-Hwan is set to arrive. Four South Korean cabinet ministers and 16 others are killed.

November 29, 1987: All 115 people on board are killed when a bomb planted by the North's agents explodes on a South Korean airliner.

September 1996: A North Korean submarine lands commandos on the South Korean coast, prompting a huge manhunt. Twenty-four infiltrators are shot dead including 11 by their own hand, one is captured and one unaccounted for.

June 15, 1999: A clash breaks out along the Yellow Sea border, the first naval battle since the Korean War. A North Korean boat with an estimated 20 sailors aboard is sunk.

June 29, 2002: A South Korean ship is sunk and six sailors killed in another Yellow Sea clash, while Seoul is co-hosting the football World Cup. An estimated 13 North Koreans die.

November 10, 2009: Navies of the two sides exchange fire near the Yellow Sea border. Seoul officials say a North Korean patrol boat retreated in flames but its casualties are unknown. No South Koreans are hurt.

March 26, 2010: An unexplained explosion hits the Cheonan, a 1,200-tonne South Korean corvette, near the disputed border and the warship breaks in two. A total of 58 sailors are rescued but 46 die.

May 20, 2010: A report by a multinational investigation team says the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo launched from a North Korean submarine.

May 24, 2010: South Korea suspends trade with the North and bans its ships from Seoul's waters. The White House says the sanctions are "entirely appropriate" as Obama orders the US military to work closely with South Korea.

July 26, 2010: US and South Korea launch a serious of major naval exercise in the Sea of Japan despite North Korean threats of nuclear retaliation.

Oct 16, 2010: North Korea blasts South Korea for hosting a multi-national naval drill aimed at preventing the transfer of weapons of mass destruction, calling it an "open declaration of war".

Oct 29, 2010: North and South Korean troops exchange fire across their border, Seoul's military said, cranking up tensions before next month's G20 summit of world leaders in Seoul.

Share This Article With Planet Earth