Beijing denied Monday that it was in talks with North Korea about stationing Chinese troops in the isolated state.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said a plan to deploy troops "does not exist", when he was asked about a report that appeared in South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper at the weekend.

The Chosun Ilbo on Saturday cited an official at the South's presidential Blue House as saying Beijing and Pyongyang had discussed details about stationing Chinese soldiers in the city of Rason in North Korea.

The anonymous official said the soldiers would protect China's port facilities there, while a senior South Korean security official was quoted as saying it would also allow China to intervene in case of North Korean instability.

An unnamed Chinese defence ministry official was quoted in China's state-run Global Times newspaper as saying: "China will not send a single soldier to other countries without the approval of the UN."

Chinese troops have not been based in the North since 1994, when Beijing withdrew from the United Nations' Military Armistice Commission that supervises the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean war.

The Chinese defence ministry official said there were only a few conditions under which Chinese troops could be stationed abroad, such as peacekeeping missions and disaster rescue efforts approved by the United Nations.

earlier related report
S. Korean men flock to Marines after N. Korea attack
Seoul (AFP) Jan 17, 2011 - Young South Koreans are flocking to join the Marines in response to North Korea's deadly attack on a border island garrisoned by the corps, an official said Monday.

A total of 4,553 hopefuls have applied for 1,011 openings in the elite corps this month, pushing the competition for places to a record high, said a spokesman for the Military Manpower Administration.

Able-bodied men must serve about two years in a branch of the military and can volunteer to do their time in the corps, which requires tough physical tests.

Competition to join the Marines has intensified since November 23 when the North shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong island in the Yellow Sea, killing two civilians and two Marines.

The first attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 war prompted young people in the South to take a tougher stance towards their communist neighbour.

More than 80 percent of all South Koreans believe their military should have hit back harder after the shelling, a poll found six days after the attack.

In December about 3,500 men competed for the Marine Corps' monthly intake of around 1,000 openings, up from about 2,800 in November.

"Competition has heated up since the Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong bombing incidents," the spokesman told AFP, referring to the North's alleged torpedo attack on a warship that killed 46 sailors in March 2010.

"I believe more young South Korean men feel compelled for patriotic duty after seeing what happened, and want to serve on the frontline against the North."

Marines garrison the frontline islands near the contested sea border.

Among this month's applicants is actor Hyun Bin, who starred in hit television dramas including "Secret Garden" and "My Name is Kim Sam-Soon".

The 29-year-old Hyun, who appears with "Lust, Caution" star Tang Wei in the movie "Late Autumn", is the oldest would-be Marine this month.

The Marines are male only, but women can join the military as regulars although they are not subject to conscription.