BEIJING—China is appealing to the United States and South Korea to show restraint following North Korea's failed rocket launch.

China's foreign ministry said Sunday that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi talked with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan. A ministry statement appealed for all sides to "remain calm and exercise restraint."

The failed launch Friday heightened tensions in the region, and the U.N. Security Council criticized it as a violation of resolutions that prohibit North Korea from developing nuclear and missile programs. The United States suspended food aid to the impoverished North.