( CNN ) -- China 's top foreign policy official met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il Thursday and the two sides `` reached consensus '' about defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula , officials said . The meeting marks the first between Kim and a top official from China since the flareup between the two Koreas . `` The two sides reached consensus on bilateral relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula after candid and in-depth talks , '' said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu . She did not elaborate on what Kim discussed with the official , Dai Bingguo , during the latter 's visit to Pyongyang . Tensions on the Korean peninsula escalated following North Korea 's shelling of South Korea 's Yeonpyeong Island last month , as well as the March sinking of a South Korean warship -- allegedly by a North Korean torpedo -- and recent revelations that it is enriching uranium for nuclear weapons . North Korean officials have been pushing for the resumption of six-party talks including China and Russia . China has also called for `` emergency '' talks among all the six countries -- North Korea , South Korea , China , the United States , Japan and Russia -- to address the tensions on the Korean peninsula . But the United States has thus far refused , looking first for proof that North Korea is serious about not stoking military tensions and serious about stifling development of its nuclear program . For the second day in a row , the head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff called on China to use its influence instead to rein in North Korea to prevent a full-blown crisis . China is North Korea 's strongest ally and largest trading partner . `` I actually believe that because these provocations continue and seemingly at a frequent interval , that the danger is going up and that steps must be taken to ensure that they stop , '' he said at a news conference in Tokyo . `` Much of that volatility is owed to the reckless behavior of the North Korean regime , enabled by their friends in China . '' CNN 's Jo Kent contributed to this report .
NEW : Dai Bingguo calls China behavior `` reckless '' The meeting between the two nations is the first since the flareup . Official : `` The two sides reached consensus '' Mullen challenges North Korea 's to use its influence with North Korea 's .