Seoul: South Korean and Chinese officials will hold talks in Seoul next week to discuss the situation in North Korea after the death of leader Kim Jong-Il, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
First Vice Minister Park Suk-Hwan and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun are expected to meet on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said.
She said the annual strategic talks would give the two countries a chance to discuss the aftermath of Kim`s death. "The meeting is aimed at sharing views on the current situation after the passing of Kim Jong-Il and consulting on the way forward regarding the Korean Peninsula," Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified official as saying.
Efforts to revive six-party negotiations on scrapping the North`s nuclear programme would also be discussed, he said. Seoul`s chief nuclear delegate Lim Sung-Nam visited China yesterday and today for talks with his counterpart Wu Dawei.
The six-party talks, chaired by China and also involving the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan, have been at a standstill since December 2008. Negotiations to resurrect them appeared to be making progress before Kim`s death last Saturday. Media reports said Pyongyang would agree to suspend its uranium enrichment programme in return for food aid from Washington.
Suspending the uranium programme -- seen as a potential source of bomb-making fuel -- is a key US demand before the six-party talks resume. PTI