N. Korea Nuclear Crisis Talks Set for Beijing
Talks among the United States, North Korea and four other governments over Pyongyang’s nuclear program will take place here this month, a Chinese envoy said Saturday.
“It will take place some time in the second half of August, but the participant parties are still discussing the exact dates,” Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the Beijing airport after returning from a visit to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
The talks are aimed at resolving tensions over U.S. complaints that North Korea is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
North Korea recently agreed to the talks with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. Pyongyang had wanted one-on-one dialogue with the United States, but Washington contended that the North’s nuclear ambitions were a regional concern.
Wang was in Pyongyang to discuss arrangements with senior North Korean officials.
“We discussed how to make the six-party talks in Beijing successful,” the Chinese envoy said.
The Japanese newspaper Asahi, citing unidentified sources, said the United States, Japan and South Korea had proposed that talks start Aug. 26.
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