China sets date for N Korea nuclear talks

China said today that a new round of six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme will be held in Beijing on June 23-26.

“China hopes that the parties concerned will show the spirit of flexibility and co-operation,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said at a briefing.

Lower-level meetings will be held next Monday and Tuesday to set the agenda for the talks, she said.

The stand-off was sparked in October 2002, when the United States said North Korea admitted operating a nuclear programme in violation of a 1994 agreement.

Two previous rounds of discussions involving China, the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia ended without settlement.

China has said that stark differences remain between the negotiating partners.

Washington demands a “complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling” of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons facilities.

North Korea says it is willing to freeze its nuclear programme in return for economic aid and will only dismantle it if the United States promises not to invade.