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SEOUL: South Korea and China agreed Monday to try to revive six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament, Seoul officials said, even though the North has walked out of the forum.
The accord came as top Chinese nuclear envoy Wu Dawei held talks with Seoul officials in the wake of the North's defiant May 25 nuclear test and missile launches.
Wu met Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek, who handles relations with Pyongyang, before talks with his South Korean counterpart and other officials.
"Both sides agreed that the goal is denuclearisation, which should be achieved peacefully through dialogue," ministry spokesman Chun Hae-Sung told a briefing.
"Both sides also agreed to make active efforts to resume the six-party talks."
Wu -- whose country chairs the talks which also officially involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia -- arrived in Seoul Sunday on the last stop of a tour which took him to Moscow, Washington and Tokyo.
The six-nation process which began in 2003 is teetering on the brink of collapse, with North Korea boycotting it since the United Nations condemned its April 5 long-range rocket launch.
South Korea's nuclear negotiator, Wi Sung-Lac, quoted by Yonhap news agency, said he and Wu would focus on ways to implement UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile tests.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, who is on a visit to Sweden, told Korean reporters his government will deal sternly with North Korea's provocative actions until it gives up its nuclear ambitions.
But Lee, quoted by Yonhap, also said he had wanted to call for international help to ease North Korea's chronic food shortages during the recent G8 summit, but was unable to do so.
"I could not say anything because I was afraid other countries might say, 'Why would a country that makes nuclear weapons and missiles have a food shortage problem?'" Lee told reporters.
But he reiterated Seoul's willingness for talks, saying the purpose of the sanctions is to bring Pyongyang back to the table.
- AFP/yt
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