The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea jointly condemned North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island last month and called on China to take a greater role in reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, dpa reported.
"We all agree that North Korea's provocative and belligerent behaviour jeopardizes peace and stability," US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters after what she called a "landmark" meeting with her counterparts in Washington.
The three ministers held a moment of silence for the four South Koreans killed when North Korea shelled the island Yeonpyeong on November 23, prompting an exchange of fire that lasted an hour.
Clinton said China's unique ties to neighbouring North Korea gave Beijing a "special role" in reducing tensions. But she rejected the Asian power's call for an emergency six-party meeting between the two Koreas, the US, Japan, Russia and China.
Clinton said North Korea had to first "demonstrate a serious of purpose in ending their provocations" before the United States would consider returning to the negotiating table.
The six-party talks been running on-and-off since 2005, aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme.
Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said the six-party process was "not a mechanism of dialogue for the purpose of dialogue," urging North Korea to take specific actions toward peace before the talks could resume.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said the three sides agreed that North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong was an "unlawful act" that violated the 1950s armistice agreement halting the Korean War. He called on China, which has resisted condemning North Korea, to take a "clear stance" on the attack.
"North Korea will face severe consequences if it engages in further provocations," Kim warned.
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