White House calls on China to restrain N. Korea

The White House on Thursday called on China to rein in its North Korean allies in order to "stabilize" the divided peninsula as the top officer in the US military returned from the region.

"China is in a position to have strong influence over the actions and the behavior of the North Koreans," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"It is our belief that they should use their influence in that country to stabilize the region," he added, when asked about a visit to the region by Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mullen was expected to brief US President Barack Obama about the trip, which came as part of a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at reducing tensions on the peninsula after a deadly North Korean attack last month.

Mullen lashed out at China in Tokyo on Thursday as he touted a united defense front with South Korea and Japan against North Korea.

"Northeast Asia is today more volatile than it has been in much of the last 50 years," Mullen said.

"Much of that volatility is owed to the reckless behaviour of the North Korean regime, enabled by their friends in China."

Washington has repeatedly called on China to restrain its communist ally, but Beijing has yet to condemn the North's shelling of a South Korean border island on November 23, which killed two soldiers and two civilians.

In a show of unity on Thursday, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il received a senior Chinese envoy for the first time since the incident.

Washington has meanwhile stepped up diplomatic efforts, announcing that a high level State Department delegation will go to China next week, to be followed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in January.

"There will be additional trips to Beijing by senior administration officials to reiterate our call that the Chinese be clear with the North Koreans about their belligerent behavior and its destabilizing effect on the region," Gibbs said.

China is North Korea's sole major ally and sustains its shaky economy with fuel and food aid.

But Beijing has come under increasing pressure from the United States and its allies Japan and South Korea following the border incident, which was the first shelling of civilian areas in South Korea since the 1950-53 war.