Japan and the United States insisted on a UN Security Council vote today on a resolution condemning North Korea's barrage of missile launches amid signs of a compromise with China.
The reclusive Stalinist state has rebuffed worldwide criticism of its July 5 missile tests and has resisted pressure to return to talks on winding up its nuclear arms programme, but its neighbours pressed on with diplomacy to resolve the crisis.
Kyodo news agency - quoting a Japanese minister in Beijing - said that a Chinese government delegation had returned from Pyongyang carrying a message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, whose closest ally is China. It gave no details.
South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lee Kyu-hyung arrived in Beijing today for talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who was part of the mission to North Korea.
Seoul's diplomatic effort came after Pyongyang stormed out of cabinet-level talks with the South on Thursday.
Meanwhile, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said Kim had called the country's 30 top foreign envoys back to Pyongyang for a meeting next week, the first of its kind in five years.
Amid a flurry of negotiations at the United Nations on Friday, US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters his instructions were to vote today and Japanese Ambassador Kenzo Oshima said Japan stood on the same ground.
Japan produced a new draft resolution that sought to bridge its differences with China. Beijing's ambassador said he would still veto it without further changes, which many diplomats expect when council members resume negotiations.