S. Korea seeks talks with China, Japan
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Xinhua, October 31, 2011
South Korea is seeking to hold a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of China and Japan in November over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program, local media reported Monday.
The three countries can meet on the sidelines of an upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Russia or an East Asia Summit in Indonesia for policy coordination on the DPRK, Seoul's semi-official Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.
The meeting, if held, would be the second such trilateral meeting since July.
South Korea is separately seeking to hold a third round of rare denuclearization talks with the DPRK, following two rounds of similar talks between the DPRK and the United States, according to the official.
The remarks came amid a flurry of regional diplomatic efforts aimed at resuming multilateral negotiations, stalled since 2008, over ending Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Pyongyang declared the six-party aid-for-denuclearization talks "dead" in 2009 but recently expressed its wish to return to the negotiating table.
Kim Jong ll, top leader of the DPRK, told visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang last week that DPRK hopes the six-party talks should be restarted as soon as possible.
South Korea is demanding its northern neighbor abandons its uranium enrichment program and allow inspectors to verify the disarmament process.
