N Korea nuclear talks to resume in July
Ap, Beijing
South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator said Friday that long-stalled talks on disarming North Korea's nuclear arsenal are to resume this month as Seoul prepared to ship a first batch of promised energy aid to the North next week. Chun Yung-woo said the exact date of the talks would likely be announced next week. "A meeting among the head delegates of the six-party talks will be held this month," Chun told reporters in Beijing following discussions with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei. "No date has been determined. It looks like China, as the host country, will decide after listening to the other countries' opinions." China is the host of the so-called six-nation forum, which also involves the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States. The last round of negotiations was held in Beijing in March. Efforts to push the talks forward and implement a February agreement that committed the North to shutting down its main reactor in exchange for economic aid and political concessions had been held up by a financial dispute between Pyongyang and Washington. The issue was finally resolved last week.
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