N Korea missile crisis stirs up discord

Japan and China, meanwhile, were advocating different strategies for how the United Nations should respond to last week's launches.

The bickering and divisions were likely to please the North, which frequently tries to drive a wedge between the US and its allies in the campaign to defuse Pyongyang's nuclear threat.

China yesterday rejected a proposed UN resolution on possible sanctions against North Korea, dashing US and Japanese hopes for quick action over Pyongyang's missile tests.

A foreign ministry announcement that the draft Security Council resolution was an "overreaction" came amid another flurry of shuttle diplomacy to address the crisis in the wake of last Wednesday's missile launches.

North Korea sent shivers throughout the region last week by test-firing seven missiles, believed to include a long-range Taepodong-2 potentially capable of hitting the United States.

The missiles also led to a flurry of diplomatic activity, which continued Tuesday with the US envoy on North Korea wrapping up a Japan visit and flying to China for more talks. A high-level North Korean delegation also travelled to Beijing, while the North and South were to begin a new round of ministerial meetings in the southern city of Busan.