"We hope that no matter what happens, the six-way talks, this whole process, will continue," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told AFP on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Bali.

Zhang said she had not yet seen the details of the North Korean demand Tuesday that Japan be left out of the talks, but added: "All sides during the six-way talks have agreed that the six-way talks should continue."

"So I think this process, through the joint efforts, will continue."

North Korea said it "would not allow Japan to participate in any form of negotiations for the settlement of the nuclear issue in the future."

It criticized Tokyo for aligning itself with Washington on the nuclear crisis and for its crackdown on a pro-North Korean group in Japan known as Chongryon.

It also faulted Tokyo for using the talks to raise the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea during the 1970s and 1980s.

The statement cast doubt on plans for a new round of talks -- involving North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- which South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun said Tuesday would take place soon.

A first round of talks in Beijing in August ended inconclusively and the North Koreans expressed no interest in continuing the dialogue without concessions from the United States, which Washington refused.

WAR.WIRE