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SEOUL: Foreign ministers of six countries negotiating North Korea's nuclear disarmament will meet in Singapore next week, a South Korean government official said.
"There will be an informal meeting of six-party foreign ministers next week in Singapore," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Yonhap news agency said the meeting, which would be the highest-level gathering since six-party talks began in 2003, would be held next Wednesday.
China had said Thursday that the ministers may gather on the sidelines of next week's annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the city-state.
"Some countries propose holding a six-party ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the ARF, and China and other relevant parties are consulting on the proposals," said foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
At the latest six-party round in Beijing last week, the North agreed to disable its main nuclear plants by the end of October.
The communist state, which tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006, also said it would allow thorough site inspections to verify its nuclear declaration.
In return, the other five parties - China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia - guaranteed delivery of all heavy fuel oil promised as part of a landmark six-nation deal reached in February last year.
The pact stipulated that a ministerial meeting should be held before the final phase of disarmament.
In this phase the North should permanently dismantle the plants and hand over all nuclear material and weaponry, in return for diplomatic relations with the US and Japan and a permanent peace pact governing the peninsula.
- AFP/yb
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