N Korean missiles in Yellow Sea

China calls for talks; S korea,US begin drills

North Korea has placed surface-to-surface missiles on launch pads in the Yellow Sea,Yonhap news agency said,as the US and South Korea began military drills and China called for emergency talks.

China made clear that the talks would not amount to a resumption of six-party disarmament discussions which North Korea walked out of two years ago and declared dead. South Korea said it would carefully consider Chinas suggestion.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak had told a visiting Chinese delegation that Beijing,North Koreas only major ally which is traditionally reluctant to criticise the reclusive regime,should do more to help.

China,which agreed with South Korea that the situation was worrisome,suggested the emergency talks for December among North and South Korea,host China,the US,Japan and Russia. It did not say whether Pyongyang had agreed to join. Beijing has long-standing bonds with Pyongyang.

Critics in Washington and other capitals say Chinas approach amounts to coddling a dangerous nuclear-armed state.

Yonhap said North Korea,whose ailing leader,Kim Jong-il,is preparing to hand over the reins of power to his youngest son,had moved surface-to-air missiles to frontline areas,days after it shelled Yeonpyeong killing four people. The Norths official KCNA news agency warned of retaliatory action if its territory is violated.

South Koreas Defence Ministry told journalists to leave the island on Sunday because the situation was bad. Many residents evacuated earlier said they did not want to return.

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The exercises,in waters far south of the disputed maritime boundary,are being held in the face of misgivings by China and threats of all-out war from North Korea. The chairman of North Koreas Supreme Peoples Assembly will visit China from Tuesday,the official Xinhua news agency said.

We ask that China make a contribution to peace on the Korean peninsula by taking a more fair and responsible position on South-North Korea ties, the South Korean presidential Blue House quoted Lee as telling Dai. Washington said the drill is intended as a deterrent after the worst assault on South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.