China Calls For Calm on Korean Penninsula

Wants North, South Korea to simmer down

China called for "calm and restraint" Friday on the long-troubled Korean Peninsula, as both North Korea and South Korea exchanged increasingly harsh threats in the wake of new United Nations sanctions punishing the North for a nuclear test last month.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urged "relevant parties to exercise calm and restraint and avoid actions that might further escalate tensions."