China called Sunday for an early resumption of the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea amid rising military tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula.



China's foreign ministry said during a press conference that it is proposing the related nations -- the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia -- resume the nuclear talks in early December.



The six-party talks have been deadlocked since December 2008.



Chances of resuming the six-nation talks soured when a Seoul-led multinational investigation concluded that Pyongyang torpedoed its warship Cheonan in March. The North claims innocence in the deadly incident that killed 46 South Korean sailors.



North Korea has recently shown a positive stance toward restarting the six-way dialogue, but Japan and South Korea are calling on Pyongyang to implement concrete steps to show its



commitment to denuclearization before resuming the talks.



The press conference was held five days after North Korea fired a barrage of artillery rounds toward Yeonpyeong Island near the tense Yellow Sea border, killing two South Korean marines and as many civilians and leaving 18 others wounded.



The attack drew international condemnation and angered South Koreans, who came under the communist neighbor's first attack targeting civilians since the 1950-53 Korean War.



Defying North Korea's threats, South Korea and the United States launched large-scale naval drills off the Korean Peninsula's west coast Sunday with the aircraft carrier USS George Washington participating, in a potent show of force against the North.



Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, who advises top Chinese officials on foreign policies, traveled to Seoul Saturday with Beijing's chief nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei. On Sunday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Dai discussed measures to ease tensions on the peninsula.



China has expressed concerns on the South Korean-U.S. joint military exercise, saying it will further escalate the tensions.



China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported earlier on Sunday that Choe Thae-bok, secretary of the North's Central Committee of the Workers' Party and chairman of the regime's parliament Supreme People's Assembly, will make a five-day visit to China starting on Tuesday, in response to an invitation from Wu Bangguo, China's top legislator and second-ranking official. (Yonhap News)