"The situation on the Korean peninsula remains highly complicated and sensitive," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

"We appeal to relevant parties to keep calm, exercise restraint, adopt a responsible attitude and do more to ease the situation and contribute to peace and stability on the peninsula."

She also reiterated Beijing's appeal for a resumption of long-stalled six-party negotiations aimed at putting an end to North Korea's nuclear programme that also involve South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia.

China is the North's sole major ally and has refrained from criticising it in public over the shelling of Yeonpyeong island near the contested western sea border last month, which killed four people including two civilians.

On Thursday, South Korea's military staged a military exercise involving tanks, artillery and jet fighters at Pocheon, 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the tense land border with North Korea, a defence ministry spokesman said.

Seoul's navy is also conducting a four-day exercise off the east coast, which began Wednesday.

The South says its drills are defensive, but tensions have been high on the peninsula since the Yeonpyeong incident.

The North said its shelling was in response to a live-fire drill by the South on the island. The South said it had been staging such artillery exercises for 37 years and the North was seeking a pretext to attack.

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