Chinese President Xi Jinping called for dialogue to resolve the "predicament" on the Korean Peninsula during a bilateral summit with South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Washington, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

"The Chinese side stands ready to make efforts in a constructive way to resume dialogue within the framework of the six-party talks," Xi was quoted as telling Park, according to the Xinhua report from Washington.

Park and Xi held the summit on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit.

North Korea has ramped up its warlike rhetoric since it was slapped with tougher U.N. sanctions early last month for conducting its fourth nuclear test in January and launching a long-range rocket in February. (Yonhap)