South Korea and the United States are hoping China can bring unruly ally North Korea back to stalled talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons programmes, Seoul's foreign minister said. Minister Ban Ki-moon spoke as Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing assured US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Beijing would push Pyongyang to end its boycott of six-party talks on the crisis as soon as possible.
The two Korea exchanged sharp words at the weekend over naval activities in the Yellow Sea off their western coasts and Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported that the United States, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan could go ahead with the talks even if North Korea did not attend.
"An idea to convene talks among the five countries excluding North Korea has emerged within the US government," it said. "The aim is to consider plans to bring North Korea back to the six-country talks and to apply pressure on North Korea by showing unity among the five countries."
There was no immediate comment on the report from US or Japanese officials.
North Korea declared for the first time on Thursday that it possessed nuclear weapons, adding that it was pulling out of the multilateral talks in the face of what it called US hostility.
The move was a major challenge to South Korea, the United States, and China, which has played a lead role over several years in efforts to disarm its isolated Stalinmist neighbour.
"South Korea and the United States exchanged the view that China should strengthen the effort to convince the North, and we are continuing diplomatic efforts in that direction," Foreign Minister Ban was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Ban, who is visiting Washington, is due to meet Rice, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Monday.
China - North Korea's sole key ally - is believed to be upset with Pyongyang but has pledged to continue its key role in mediating in the crisis.
STAY IN TOUCH: "China will stay in touch with all relevant parties and strive to make the situation develop in a positive direction so that the six-party talks could be resumed as soon as possible," Foreign Minister Li was quoted as telling Rice by telephone.
"Li reiterated China's stand in supporting the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn) seen on Sunday.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Foreign Minister Ban as saying that it was impossible at present to definitively assess the North's nuclear capabilities despite Pyongyang's boast that it now had atomic arms.
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