A Chinese research institute says a military conflict between North Korea and the U.S. could arise if the protracted North Korean nuclear standoff is not resolved through multilateral talks.

A professor at China's Center for Strategic and International Studies also said that amid escalating tension between Pyongyang and Washington, Seoul's recently acknolwedged nuclear experiments have added insult to injury, adding that the six-way nuclear talks are now practically dead in the water.

Seoul's admission last month to having conducted two nuclear experiments in the past have put a damper on the six-way talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. The North is continuing to boycott the fourth round of talks, originally slated for last month.