BEIJING, Aug 29: China's foreign minister and US Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the North Korean nuclear row by telephone on Sunday amid mounting concerns over international moves to end the stand-off.

Foreign minister Li Zhaoxing and Powell "exchanged views" on the long-running dispute, the official Xinhua news agency said without giving details.

A Chinese delegation had travelled to North Korea on an unannounced visit on Saturday following repeated warnings from North Korea that it will pull out of the process.

Working-level talks in Beijing ahead of the next round of six-nation negotiations - also involving Japan, Russia and South Korea - are yet to be scheduled. The stand-off began in October 2002 when the United States accused Pyongyang of operating a nuclear weapons programme based on enriched uranium, violating a 1994 agreement. -AFP