China Seeks End to N. Korea Standoff

China’s top nuclear envoy will try to jump-start stalled talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, a South Korean official said Sunday.

Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei will map out a common and broad approach to resolving the nuclear standoff when he talks with his South Korean counterpart, Chun Yung-woo, in Seoul Friday, a presidential security adviser told the Korean Broadcasting System.

The new approach, which has not been made public, was agreed upon at a summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and President George W. Bush in Washington Sept. 14, The Korea Times reported Sunday.

The meeting comes amid new concerns that North Korea could remove fuel rods at its Yongbyon reactor within the next three months and harvest more weapons-grade plutonium.