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China

With a nuclear declaration by North Korea and removal of the North from the United States’ list of states sponsoring terrorism imminent, the nations involved in the six-party talks are reportedly pursuing a resumption of the talks as early as the end of June or beginning of July.

Shortly before the G-8 summit, which will be held at Toyako in Hokkaido, Japan, on July 7-9, foreign ministers from the related countries will gather in Northeast Asia for the next round of six-party talks, according to a diplomatic source who is familiar with the issue.

The source added that the United States is the country leading the push for resumption of the six-party talks.

When U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Korea, Japan and China in May, he proposed that the six-party talks resume in order to establish the principles of the Northeast Asian peace and security mechanism, the source added. It was reported that Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill also proposed a similar plan during a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, in Beijing on May 27-28.

The source said that considering the fact that the United States is strongly pushing for the foreign ministers’ talks and Pyongyang and Washington are in close consultation with one another, it is possible the six-party talks will be held soon. “If the foreign ministers’ meeting takes place, there may be bilateral talks between U.S. Secretary State Condoleezza Rice and the North’s Foreign Minister Park Ui-chun or first Vice Foreign Minister Kang Suk-ju, marking an important breakthrough in the development of relations between the two countries, the source added.

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