In a meeting with Yun in Beijing, Li stressed it is China's consistent policy to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday assured South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se that Beijing will not tolerate North Korea's nuclear arms, according to a diplomatic source.

The same day, senior Chinese apparatchik Wang Jiarui voiced support for South Korea's offer of talks between Seoul, Beijing and Washington to ease tensions on the peninsula. So far China had been opposed to the idea. Wang called for North Korea to be involved as well.

Yun said he told Wang that Seoul cannot accept Pyongyang's demands that any disarmament talks between the two Koreas should exclude the issue of denuclearization.

South Korea and China also agreed to install a diplomatic hotline linking the two foreign ministers.

