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China to host fresh N Korea talks Next UN head in China for talks
(about 16 hours later)
South Korea's foreign minister and next UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to visit China on Friday for talks on the North Korea crisis. UN Secretary General-elect Ban Ki-moon is beginning a visit to China for talks thought to centre on the recent North Korean nuclear test.
He is set to meet President Hu Jintao, China's envoy to Pyongyang Tang Jiaxuan and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Mr Ban has pledged to play an active part in resolving the nuclear crisis.
Discussions will focus on the stalled six-party talks and ways of defusing current tensions in the region, a foreign ministry spokesman said. He has already made plans to appoint a special UN envoy on North Korea when he takes over as UN leader in January.
Mr Ban has pledged to play an active part in resolving the crisis. At the moment, though, he remains South Korean foreign minister, and in that capacity he also faces tough challenges from Pyongyang.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Joanchao told reporters the government wanted to "strengthen the co-operation with [South Korea] to promote the resumption of the six-party talks [and] relax the current tensions". The North's nuclear test continues to have repercussions in the South - where three members of the country's national security team have now offered to resign.
The head of South Korea's intelligence services, Kim Seung-gyu, tendered his resignation on Friday. Earlier this week, the Unification Minister, Lee Jong-seok, and the Defence Minister, Yoon Kwang-ung, also indicated their readiness to step down.
In the wake of the nuclear test, South Koreans have voiced their anger at President Roh Moo-hyun's "sunshine policy" of engagement with the North.
Critics have also accused the government of not having enough advance knowledge about the test before it took place.
Influential nation
"I intend to seek an active role for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue," Mr Ban said before leaving for Beijing.
He is set to meet President Hu Jintao, as well as China's envoy to Pyongyang, Tang Jiaxuan, and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
He is expected to thank China - a permanent member of the UN Security Council - for its support of his candidacy to replace Kofi Annan as head of the UN.
But there is little doubt that other issues - primarily the North Korean nuclear crisis - will be on the agenda for discussion.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Joanchao told reporters ahead of the visit that the Beijing government wanted to "strengthen the co-operation with [South Korea] to promote the resumption of the six-party talks [and] relax the current tensions".
He said Beijing hoped Mr Ban's visit could help "achieve the objective of the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and preserve peace and stability in north-east Asia".He said Beijing hoped Mr Ban's visit could help "achieve the objective of the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and preserve peace and stability in north-east Asia".
On Tuesday, Mr Ban said he intended to appoint a special envoy to North Korea when he took over as secretary general in January 2007. The BBC's Dan Griffiths in Beijing says Mr Ban knows that he needs the co-operation of countries like China in the search for a solution to the situation on the Korean peninsula.
"I intend to seek an active role for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue," he said in a speech. Beijing is North Korea's closest ally and a key supplier of aid and trade to the secretive regime in Pyongyang.
Mr Ban is expected to thank China - a permanent member of the UN Security Council - for its support of his candidacy to replace Kofi Annan as head of the UN. So far, though, even China has had little success in persuading North Korea back to the negotiating table.
He is due to do the same when he moves on from China to visit Russia and France, which are also permanent Security Council members, next week. North Korea is already shaping up to be on of the major challenges for Mr Ban during his time at the United Nations, our correspondent says.
The South Korean news agency, Yonhap, said Mr Ban was making the visit to China in his capacity as the next UN secretary general, but this was contradicted by other officials who said he was going as the country's foreign minister.