Beijing - Chinese and South Korean officials met on Tuesday to discuss how to respond to North Korea's planned rocket launch next week, the Chinese government and South Korean media said.

Wi Sung Lac, South Korea's chief envoy at talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

"To be mainly discussed are measures before and after North Korea fires a missile," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Wi as saying shortly before leaving for Beijing.

The visit came as North Korea issued a statement warning that any retaliation against its rocket launch would lead to the collapse of six-nation talks on ending its nuclear weapons programme.

"If such a hostile activity is carried out under the name of the UN Security Council, it should be considered as a breach of the September 19 (2005) joint statement by the UN Security Council itself," Yonhap quoted a North Korean foreign ministry statement as saying.

"If the September 19 joint statement is breached, the six-party talks are no longer in need of existence," it said, adding that the other five members would be responsible for any collapse of negotiations that have continued under the 2005 framework agreement.

Since 2003, North Korea, the United States, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan have taken part in several rounds of protracted talks aimed at negotiating an end to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme in return for energy aid and other concessions.

North Korea's announcement earlier this month that it plans to launch a communications satellite in early April has met with international concern that the launch could be a cover for a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

South Korea, the US and Japan have raised concerns about the North Korean plans. Officials from the three nations will discuss North Korea in Washington on Friday, Japan's Kyodo News reported Tuesday.

China has also urged all parties to "refrain from taking actions that may escalate tensions."

At a meeting with North Korean Premier Kim Yong Il in Beijing last week, Chinese President Hu Jintao urged North Korea and the other nations to resume the stalled dialogue. (dpa)