Beijing and Seoul have increasingly struck an evenhanded approach, trying to coax the North into negotiations while encouraging the Bush administration not to take actions that could worsen the situation.

Wen echoed this strategy, saying a resumption of the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programs - which also include the US, Russia, South Korea and Japan - ofered the best opportunity for regional stability. He suggested both North Korea and the United States need to moderate their positions to get the talks back on track.

"We still believe that the six-party talks are the only way to a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula," Wen said. "So China will work actively on the concerns of the various parties on the matter so that we can resume negotiations as soon as possible and bring about a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue."

Despite the preference for a peaceful solution, the Japanese Defense Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said Tokyo was better prepared to deal with a North Korean missile launch than in 1998 when Pyongyang fired a missile over northern Japan into the Pacific Ocean.

Japan has dispatched Aegis-equipped warships and reconnaissance planes to monitor the situation, and is coordinating intelligence gathering with the United States, Nukaga said in Tokyo.

He acknowledged, however, that Japan does not have the capability to shoot down the missile.