Beijing, Aug 09: Multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear programme will take place in Beijing later this month, a Chinese envoy said today after returning from Pyongyang. "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 told reporters at the Beijing airport. The talks are aimed at resolving tensions over US complaints that Pyongyang is trying to develop nuclear weapons in violation of a 1994 agreement. North Korea agreed last week to the talks with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.
Wang had been in Pyongyang to discuss arrangements for the talks with senior North Korean officials.
"We discussed how to make the six-party talks in Beijing successful," the Chinese envoy said. "We tried to figure out how to solve the (Korean) Peninsula's nuclear issue in a peaceful manner through peaceful talks."
China is the isolated north's only major ally and its leading source of food and fuel aid.
Wang, who was met at the Beijing airport by north Korea's ambassador to china, described the visit to Pyongyang as a success but didn't give any details. He also has visited Moscow and Washington as part of China's efforts to organize the talks. Bureau Report