Nuclear envoys of two Koreas likely to meet in Beijing next week

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- The chief nuclear negotiators of South and North Korea are likely to meet in Beijing as early as next week, a senior official in Seoul said Friday, amid a flurry of diplomacy to resume the broader negotiations on ending the North's nuclear weapons programs. Wi Sung-lac of South Korea and Ri Yong-ho of North Korea met in Indonesia for the first time in more than two years in late July, setting the tone for renewed diplomatic efforts to reopen the stalled six-party talks, which also involve the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. "At this stage, high-level officials of South and North Korea are exploring the possibility of holding talks" in Beijing, the official said on the condition of anonymity. Since the rare inter-Korean talks between Wi and Ri, Seoul and Washington have engaged in preliminary discussions with Pyongyang to gauge the possibility of restarting the six-party talks. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, during a rare summit on Aug. 24 with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, reportedly pledged to consider issuing a moratorium on nuclear testing and missile launches if the six-party talks resume. South Korea and the U.S., however, have reacted coldly to the North's latest gesture, urging Pyongyang to announce such a moratorium and address concerns about its uranium enrichment program before the multilateral negotiations begin. The North's uranium program is among the key hurdles to the resumption of the six-party dialogue, which has been stalled since late 2008.