Anthony Kuhn

China says it had notified Japan of the carrier's exercises and claims the Japanese planes put its planes at risk by approaching the training area.

This comes as China and Japan are embroiled in the worst diplomatic feud in over a decade.

Tensions erupted last month after Japan's Prime Minister, Sanae Takeuchi, suggested that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could justify a Japanese military response.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

South Korea says North Korean troops have crossed the Military Demarcation Line, or MDL, at the center of the DMZ more than 10 times this year, while building roads and fences and laying mines, sometimes forcing the South to fire warning shots.

The MDL was marked with signposts at the end of the Korean War, but that was more than 70 years ago, and most of the signs are now illegible, disintegrated, or covered by vegetation.

Seoul says the bigger goal of the talks is to lower tensions and restore trust between the two Koreas.

But North Korea has ignored the South's efforts at outreach, cut all channels of communication, and abandoned its goal of eventual reunification with the South.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

The Kyoto News Agency reports that Japanese Foreign Ministry official Masaaki Kanai will tell Chinese officials that Japan's policy towards Taiwan has not changed, despite Prime Minister Sanae Takeuchi's remarks in Parliament this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute an existential threat for Japan, justifying a military response.

Both sides have exchanged diplomatic protests.

Beijing says its premier, Li Chang, has no plans to meet with Takeuchi at the G20 summit in South Africa, apparently due to the dispute.

On Friday, China's government advised citizens not to visit Japan due to safety concerns.

More Chinese have visited Japan this year than citizens of any other nation.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Sanae Takeuchi told Parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could threaten Japan's survival and prompt a military response.

On Saturday, China's Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, quoted Takeuchi's remarks, adding on social media that, quote, "...the filthy head that recklessly sticks itself in must be cut off without a moment's hesitation."

The remarks were widely understood to mean Takeuchi's head.

Tokyo complained and Xue's post was later deleted.

Japan's chief government spokesman said Xue's remarks were highly inappropriate, coming from the head of a Chinese diplomatic mission.