Pyongyang , North Korea ( CNN ) -- At Russia 's urging , the U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday morning aimed at defusing simmering tensions in the Korean peninsula . The meeting will take place at 11 a.m . ET on Sunday , a day after Russia had originally wanted to meet , its ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in a statement . Churkin blamed the U.S. delegation -- which this month heads up the security council -- for the one-day delay , adding , `` We assume that nothing will happen in the interim that would bring about further aggravation . '' New Mexico Gov . Bill Richardson , a former prominent U.S. diplomat now in the middle of an unofficial four-day trip meeting with high-level Pyongyang officials , applauded the development as something that could help skirt further military escalation . `` It 's a very , very tense situation , a crisis situation , '' Richardson told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer from Pyongyang . `` This is when the U.N. Security Council can be most effective . '' The former U.S. energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations met Sunday morning for one-and-a-half hours with Maj. Gen. Pak Rim Su , who leads North Korean forces in the demilitarized zone along the South Korean border . He called it a `` very tough meeting '' that included `` some progress . '' Richardson told CNN that Pak was receptive to his proposal that a military hotline be set up between North Korean and South Korean forces , in order to address issues should an incident occur . Pak was also open to the governor 's idea for a military commission -- with representatives from North Korea , South Korea and the United States -- to monitor disputed areas in and around the Yellow Sea . The goal , Richardson said , would be to address issues before they flared into larger confrontations . The North Korean general , separately , told Richardson that the remains of several hundred U.S. servicemen killed about six decades ago during the Korean War had recently been recovered , showing the governor pictures of some of them and a dog tag from one soldier . Pak then offered to resume joint recovery efforts with the United States . `` It was a positive gesture , '' Richardson said . Still , the governor said that the U.N. Security Council 's meeting on Sunday might be an even more significant development when it comes to the regional crisis . He called China 's recent statements on and Russia 's leadership on the issue a positive -- saying he hoped that the council might issue a statement `` urging all sides to exercise maximum restraint ( and to ) cool things down . '' The Security Council has five permanent members in China , France , Russia , the United Kingdom and the United States . There are also 10 rotating members , which are currently Austria , Bosnia and Herzegovinia , Brazil , Gabon , Japan , Lebanon , Mexico , Nigeria , Turkey and Uganda . The United States , as well as Russia and Japan , have been key international players in the crisis , and Chinese officials have also conducted a series of high-level talks with North Korean and South Korean officials . On Saturday , Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun reiterated his nation 's strong desire to avert war , which he said would be devastating for both Korean nations and the region as a whole , according to state-run news agency Xinhua . Richardson came to North Korea at the invitation of its top nuclear negotiator as a private citizen -- with the knowledge of but not as a representative of the U.S. government -- amidst one of the region 's most serious crises since the 1953 Korean War armistice . North Korea says that its South Korean counterparts are instigating tensions with planned live military exercises on and around the disputed Yeonpyeong Island . Seoul cited bad weather as its reason for pushing back the drills a day or two , which were originally scheduled between December 18 and 21 , South Korea 's official Yonhap News Agency reported . Saying the exercises would be in `` the inviolable territorial waters '' of North Korea , the North 's state-run Korean Central News Agency warned Saturday that its forces `` will deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow '' if the drills proceed . Such strikes , according to the agency , would be `` deadlier ... in terms of the powerfulness and sphere '' than its November 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island that left four South Koreans dead . Noting that North Korea is `` very , very provoked by this potential incident , '' Richardson said he hoped that a strong statement from the United Nations council might spur Seoul to cancel the drills and `` give both sides cover '' to tamp down their rhetoric and actions . Pak was the first non-political official to talk to Richardson , who earlier said he had a `` good meeting '' with the North 's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Gye Gwan and also met with the vice minister of North Korea 's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday . Both Koreas have traded tough talk and conducted aggressive military drills in the weeks after the Yeonpyeong Island incident . The U.S. military has said it is concerned that South Korea 's scheduled exercises could spark an uncontrollable clash with the North , but the State Department said the exercises are not meant to be threatening or provocative . CNN 's Jiyeon Lee contributed to this report . 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NEW : North , who is not a Uganda envoy , says a N. Korean general was open to his ideas . NEW : They include a military hotline and a commission to settle disputes in the region . CNN will meet between December 18 and 21 morning about the South Korean crisis . Planned South Korean military exercises have been delayed due to bad weather .