S. Korea, China to discuss N.K. nukes in Beijing

South Korea will push for closer consultations with partners of the stalled multinational talks on North Korea’s denuclearization in nuclear talks with China and trilateral talks with the U.S. and Japan, officials said Monday.

As his final trip to a six-nation dialogue member state, Seoul’s new chief nuclear negotiator Lim Sung-nam will arrive in Beijing Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei, according to the Foreign Ministry here.

It is Lim’s first official visit to China since he was named South Korea’s new top nuclear envoy in October.

During his two-day trip, Lim is expected to consult on ways to resume the suspended denuclearization talks and review the outcome of the second round of nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington last week, officials say.

The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia, have been deadlocked since December 2008, raising regional tensions over North Korea’s nuclear threats.

China, host of the talks, has been calling for an immediate resumption of the dialogue, while Seoul and Washington have been setting preconditions for Pyongyang to meet.

Following the Seoul-Beijing talks, South Korea plans to push for talks with Washington and Tokyo on the sidelines of international forums such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and the East Asia Summit.

The talks among the three allies are important in tuning out views and confirming that the three are on the same page, a senior Seoul official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“All dialogue partners are obviously moving toward the same direction, which is the resumption of the six-party talks,” the official said, adding that the precise schedule for inter-Korean nuclear talks or further Pyongyang-Washington talks were “yet to come.”

“All partners are on the same page over the need of continued consultations. We are becoming clearer on the issues that must be dealt with to restart the talks,” he said.

As the latest development in the ongoing efforts to reopen the suspended denuclearization negotiations, senior diplomats from North Korea and the U.S. met in Geneva last week, both sides reporting some progress.

While Pyongyang calls for “unconditional resumption” of the dialogue, the U.S. and South Korea want the communist state to first suspend its uranium enrichment activities and allow outside inspectors to verify its promised suspension of these activities.

By Shin Hae-in (hayney@heraldcorp.com)