China ready to promote dialogue with North Korea

(Vatican Radio) China's president has said he is ready to promote dialogue between North Korea and its opponents, amid tensions over its nuclear and missile programmes.

China's foreign ministry quoted the nation's president as saying he is willing to help bring North Korea into talks, because, Xi Jinping said, stability on the Korean peninsula is in China's interests.

In recent weeks, Pyongyang has carried out a nuclear test and has threatened to attack the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons.

Also Wednesday, a U-S official was quoted saying Washington hopes China and Russia will both push North Korea into meeting its international demands.

Meanwhile, some corporate computer networks went down in South Korea on Wednesday, apparently as a result of a co-ordinated virus assault.

There is speculation that North Korea was behind that attack on three TV broadcasters and two South Korean banks. For a while, ATMs ceased operating and credit card payment systems went down.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s report: