*** TOPIC OF THE WEEK (Part 1)

S. Korea, China, Japan Discuss Reopening Six-party Nuclear Talks

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- In a sign of change, China sided with South Korea and Japan on resuming the stalled six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Though it was not clear whether China had backed down from its persistent push for the talks' early reopening, Beijing seemed to join Seoul and Tokyo at an international forum in Hanoi by saying that it would not seek to resume the multilateral negotiations just for talks' sake.

   On Oct. 29, the leaders of South Korea, China and Japan agreed not to push for the hasty resumption of the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program with the belief that producing substantial results is more important than the timing of the often-troubled negotiations, South Korea's presidential office said.

   The agreement came at a meeting of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Hanoi on the sidelines of their annual talks with Southeast Asian nations, according to Lee's office, Cheong Wa Dae.

   The leaders agreed to "hold talks that can hammer out progress although (the process) takes time, rather than talk for the sake of talks," Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told reporters.

   But they reaffirmed a resolve to seek the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the six-way talks, also involving North Korea, the United States and Russia, she added.

   The agreement may be a sign of change in Beijing's stance on the nuclear talks. China, the chair of the talks and the closest ally of the North, has been pressing relevant nations to return to the table at an early date and try to narrow differences among them.

   Pyongyang has also expressed its willingness to rejoin the aid-for-denuclearization talks that have been stalled for two years, even though it has attached the condition that Washington first lift sanctions on Pyongyang.

   Also in Hanoi on Oct. 30, South Korea's foreign minister met separately with his counterparts from the United States and Russia and agreed to push for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, South Korean officials said.

   South Korean foreign minister Kim Sung-hwan was in the Vietnamese capital accompanying President Lee, who attended the East Asia Summit involving the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as the U.S., China, Japan and South Korea.

   On the sidelines of the summit, Kim met separately with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

   During the meetings, the diplomats agreed that North Korea's sincere intentions and action to denuclearize should be a prerequisite for the resumption of the stalled six-party talks, South Korea's foreign ministry said in a news statement released in Seoul.

   Kim and Clinton agreed to further strengthen their countries' alliance to effectively respond to any threats from North Korea, the statement said. "The two ministers pledged to hold another discussion in the near future on topics of mutual interest," a ministry official in Seoul said.

   The South Korean top diplomat also met with his Russian counterpart, pledging to continue to persuade North Korea to denuclearize, thus promoting peace in Northeast Asia, the ministry statement said.

   The six-party nuclear talks have been stalled for nearly two years since the last session in December 2008. Prospects for reopening the negotiations have been thrown into further doubt after the March sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on the North.

   Pyongyang has indicated its willingness to return to the negotiating table in recent months as its economic difficulties deepened in the wake of a series of sanctions it received for its nuclear test last year and the ship sinking.

   Seoul and Washington, however, have rejected the overtures, saying the North should first prove through action that it is serious about abandoning its nuclear programs and take responsibility for the ship sinking before the nuclear negotiations can resume. Pyongyang denies any role in the sinking.

   Nevertheless, China and North Korea have been more positive in their efforts to resume the six-way talks. In mid-October, North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan made a five-day trip to China, where he met with China's nuclear envoy Wu Dawei. Kim has served for years as Pyongyang's top envoy to the six-nation disarmament talks.

   In Beijing, the North Korean official also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and discussed issues of common interest including resuming the six-party talks. After talks with Kim, Wu reportedly told the press that North Korea was positive about reopening the nuclear talks. China made an unspecified constructive proposal to North Korea to reopen the negotiations, China's foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said.

   In a related development, a well-known American expert on North Korea, who served as Washington's envoy to negotiations with Pyongyang, arrived in the socialist nation on Nov. 2, according to the North's state media, a trip that could be used to gauge the prospects of resuming international nuclear talks.

   Charles Pritchard, president of the U.S.-based Korea Economic Institute (KEI), arrived in Pyongyang, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch without giving further details.

   A diplomatic source in Seoul said Pritchard plans to stay in the North for three or four days for meetings with North Korean officials, which are expected to include discussions on the stalled six-party nuclear talks. He is scheduled to visit South Korea early next week for discussions on his North Korea trip.

   Pritchard served as U.S. envoy for negotiations with North Korea and in other posts handling Pyongyang under the administrations of former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He is one of the best-known experts on Korean Peninsula issues.

   But Pritchard did not carry any message from the Obama administration, the State Department said. "No," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters when asked if Pritchard conveyed any message from the U.S. government. "Jack Pritchard is there on a private trip."

   Pritchard, who also served on the National Security Council in the Clinton administration, visited North Korea earlier this year to exchange views with officials there on the six-party talks for the North's nuclear dismantlement and on U.S. relations with the socialist state.

   Jeff Bader, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, said in a separate briefing that North Korea must apologize for the Cheonan's sinking and show commitment to denuclearization before the talks can resume. The Obama administration will not continue to reward North Korea just because it is returning to talks after brinkmanship, Bader said.

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