China says Korea clash would be "national tragedy"

BEIJING (Reuters) - A clash on the Korean peninsula could be a "national tragedy" that would imperil regional stability, a Chinese diplomat said at the U.N. Security Council meeting that failed to agree on defusing the Korean standoff.

The Security Council met on Sunday to try to calm Korean tensions, but the meeting ended without agreement. China and Russia resisted moves to publicly blame North Korea over the standoff that has deepened since last month when the North shelled a South Korean island.

China's Xinhua news agency reported on Monday Beijing time that Wang Min, the country's representative at the Security Council meeting, warned that "the situation on the Korean peninsula is perilous" and defended Beijing's approach to the crisis.

"If a bloody clash breaks out on the Korean peninsula, that would first of all hurt the people on both sides of the peninsula and bring a national tragedy of mutual fratricide between the compatriots in the North and South," Wang told the Security Council, according to Xinhua.

Beijing has sought to avoid becoming embroiled in the volatile rift between its two neighbors, and neither directly criticized Seoul's plan to hold a live-fire military drill nor Pyongyang's threat to retaliate if the drill goes ahead.

China has long stood as North Korea's only major ally and economic backer, and the United States and its regional allies have said Beijing must do more to rein in Pyongyang, which has threatened to strike back if the planned drills go ahead.

Wang said China was seeking to defuse conflict by working on both sides of the divided Korean peninsula, and he repeated his government's call for both sides to avoid stoking tensions.

"The tensions on the peninsula can absolutely not be allowed to keep escalating," Wang told the U.N. meeting.

"China is resolutely opposed, without any ambiguity, to any actions that could lead to a deterioration or escalation, wrecking regional peace and stability," he said.

"China strongly urges both sides of the Korean peninsula to remain calm, calm and calm again, and to exercise restraint, restraint, and restraint again," said Wang.

He repeated China's call for urgent talks among governments involved in stalled six-party negotiations aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Those negotiations bring together the two Koreas, host China, the United States, Japan and Russia.