Chinese envoy meets North Korean leader, Rice in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea - A Chinese envoy met with North Korea's reclusive leader, a Beijing official said Thursday, as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in South Korea to push Seoul to fully support sanctions against North Korea.

China could play the most important role in discouraging the North from carrying out an apparent threat to test another nuclear device - a move the U.S. president warned would trigger "a grave consequence" for the unpredictable communist nation.

The Chinese envoy, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, flew to Pyongyang on Wednesday and delivered a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters in Beijing.

Liu said he had no details about the message sent by Chinese President Hu Jintao. But the spokesman added, "This is a very significant visit, against the backdrop of major changes on the Korean peninsula."

Washington hoped that Tang, a former foreign minister, delivered a stern warning to the North Koreans about more atomic blasts, said a senior U.S. official speaking to reporters on Rice's plane as she traveled to Seoul from Tokyo.

"I'm pretty convinced that the Chinese will have a very strong message about future tests," the official said, adding that the United States wasn't informed ahead of time by Beijing of that mission. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the issue.

U.S. media have reported that satellite images showed suspicious activity at a suspected North Korean nuclear site.

The North's nuclear test last week presented a serious challenge to U.S.-South Korean ties, which have long been strained by fundamental differences about how to deal with Pyongyang. The U.S. has called for a tougher line, while South Korea has been reluctant to take moves that could inflame tensions.

The official traveling with Rice said the U.S. would try to avoid giving the South Koreans specific suggestions about how to deal with the North.

"They don't want to be seen as being pushed," the official said.

Rice was to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who warned that a second North Korean nuclear test would trigger a "much more serious" global response. Ban, slated to be the next UN secretary-general, also said Pyongyang shouldn't make further moves that would "aggravate the situation."

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that Seoul would bolster inspections of cargo heading to North Korea and halt subsidies to a joint tourism project in the North.

The Unification Ministry couldn't immediately confirm the report. It said that the plans were under consideration but no final decision had been made.

North Korea contends it needs nuclear weapons to counter U.S. aggression. The United States has repeatedly said it does not intend to attack the North or topple its communist government.

While visiting Tokyo on Wednesday, Rice said the U.S. was willing to use its full military might to defend Japan in light of the North's Oct. 9 nuclear test. She also sought to assure Asian countries there is no need to jump into a nuclear arms race.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso drew a firm line against his nation developing a nuclear bomb, after he met with Rice on Wednesday in Tokyo.

Rice also reaffirmed U.S. President George W. Bush's pledge, made hours after North Korea's underground test blast, "that the United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range - and I underscore the full range - of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan."

In Washington, Bush told ABC News that if the U.S. learned North Korea was about to transfer nuclear technology to others, the communist nation would face "a grave consequence." He did not elaborate.

"I want the leader to understand - the leader of North Korea to understand that he'll be held to account," Bush said, referring to the country's ruler, Kim Jong Il.

China may have the most influence on the North because the Chinese have been the impoverished country's biggest source of trade and fuel. Beijing has joined the recent diplomatic flurry, sending a senior U.S. official speaking to reporters on the Rice's plane from Tokyo and its nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, to Pyongyang for discussions, said former South Korean lawmaker Jang Sung-min said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters Wednesday that Washington was also informed about the Chinese diplomatic mission.

	A South Korean marine training northwest of Seoul on Thursday. (Reuters)