China FM calls for urgency in resuming nuke talks with N. Korea

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday resuming long-stalled nuclear talks with North Korea is a matter of great urgency, calling on relevant nations to create "favorable conditions" to reopen the six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambition.

Wang made the remarks during a joint interview on Friday with some Chinese media organizations on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The interview transcript was posted on the Chinese foreign ministry's website on Saturday.

"It is urgent for the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear issue to be resumed," Wang said.

"At this stage, the urgent task is to constantly create favorable conditions" to resume the talks, he added.

Since its third and most powerful nuclear test in February last year, North Korea has repeatedly expressed its willingness to reopen the six-party talks "without preconditions," but Seoul and Washington have demand Pyongyang demonstrate its sincerity first by taking steps toward denuclearization.

China has been more accommodating toward North Korea, urging South Korea and the U.S. to lower their bar for Pyongyang to sit down at the negotiating table.

The six-party talks, which involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have been dormant since late 2008.

Next week, the U.S. envoy for North Korea, Glyn Davies, will travel to China, South Korea and Japan in a fresh round of diplomacy on the North's nuclear weapons program.

Concerns remain high over a potential instability in the North Korean regime after leader Kim Jong-un's once-powerful uncle, Jang Song-thaek, was executed last month in a dramatic political purge.

South Korea and the U.S. have been closely watching North Korea amid fears that Pyongyang could carry out provocations to forge internal unity following the stunning execution of the former No. 2 man. (Yonhap News)