China pushes for North Korea-US talks

Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, Beijing's most experienced envoy on the North, is expected to brief US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday about his recent visit to Pyongyang.

Dai's trip is the latest in a flurry of diplomacy by China aimed at calming tensions over the North's nuclear program, which the United States believes is aimed at producing nuclear weapons.

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China is pressing for another round of talks between Washington and Pyongyang similar to those Beijing hosted in April.

North Korea has demanded one-on-one discussions with the United States, saying the nuclear issue is between it and Washington. The United States says the issue a regional one, and wants to include China, Russia, Japan and South Korea in discussions.

A South Korean official said Friday that he is optimistic that countries involved in the dispute were moving toward multilateral talks on the crisis.

"We see various ideas floating, but the broad picture is that we are moving toward multilateral talks and we are optimistic," said Wie Sung-rak, head of the North America bureau of the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

Wie said South Korea was briefed on Dai's visit to Pyongyang but refused to divulge details. South Korean news reports say China is pushing for new three-way talks involving North Korea, the United States and China, which would later by joined by South Korea and Japan.

Beijing, North Korea's last major ally, has repeatedly said it doesn't want nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and wants the issue resolved peacefully through negotiations.

China's diplomatic urgency may be fed by concerns that Pyongyang is pushing the issue to the brink of conflict.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Chinese intelligence officials believe the North has reprocessed enough plutonium to produce a nuclear bomb and has the parts for a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

The Journal, citing unidentified diplomats who it said were briefed by Chinese officials, said Chinese reports estimate North Korea has the means to make at least one nuclear device.

China's Foreign Ministry hasn't commented on the report.

Chinese state media said Dai met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang last weekend, underscoring China's unique role as intermediary between the hardline communist regime and the United States.