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S. Korea, China reaffirm close coordination on N. Korean nuke

September 8, 2015

Kim Gunn (R), South Korea`s deputy chief to the six-party talks on North Korea`s nuclear program, poses for a photo with his Chinese counterpart Xiao Qian during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Sept. 7, 2015. Xiao visited South Korea for discussions with director general-level officials handling North Korea affairs. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — South Korean and Chinese nuclear envoys held talks here Monday on ways to bring North Korea back to the bargaining table, capitalizing on the mood of closer security ties between the two nations following President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Beijing last week.

Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed in a summit to push for the resumption of “meaningful” six-party talks on denuclearizing the North. They also warned Pyongyang against further provocations to raise military tensions on the peninsula.

In an apparent bid to follow up on the summit deal, China’s deputy envoy to the six-way negotiations, Xiao Qian, had a meeting in Seoul with South Korea’s deputy chief nuclear envoy, Kim Gunn.

“The two sides agreed to make joint efforts to make positive progress in denuclearization,” the Foreign Ministry said. “They had consultations on ways to engage in dialogue (with the North).”

The six-party talks have been stalled for nearly seven years, and also involve the U.S., Japan, and Russia.

The envoys also stressed the importance of implementing the Sept. 19 Joint Statement in which North Korea vowed to abandon its nuclear program in return for political and economic incentives and that of the U.N. Security Council resolutions on Pyongyang, added the ministry.

South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Hwang Joon-kook, meanwhile, plans to visit Washington later this month for talks with his American counterpart Sung Kim.