China Calls for Resumption of North Korea Nuclear Talks

Posted September 19th, 2011 at 2:08 am (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

China's top diplomat called Monday for the resumption of stalled nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea.

Speaking at a seminar on the talks in Beijing, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told diplomats and scholars that China is happy to see positive interactions among the six parties involved in the talks.

South Korea announced Sunday that nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac will meet in Beijing Wednesday with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho. The talks will be their first since they met on the sidelines of a regional forum in Indonesia in July.

Yang urged all parties to the talks to seize the opportunity to restart the negotiations.

He said the lack of trust between the two Koreas has stood in the way of development throughout the North Asian region.

North Korea walked out of the nuclear talks in April 2009, but recently has expressed its desire to resume negotiations aimed at dismantling its nuclear weapons programs in return for international aid and other concessions.

Pyongyang offered last month to impose a moratorium on its nuclear programs if the talks resume. But Seoul and Washington have been wary, saying Pyongyang must abide by commitments it made in earlier rounds before the talks resume.

The six-party talks include the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.