China's deputy foreign minister met with officials in South Korea on Wednesday as the two nations stepped up efforts to get North Korea back to the table for nuclear disarmament talks. The United States and South Korea have urged China to play a more active role in persuading North Korea to return to the six-party talks, which also include Russia and Japan. Those efforts gained urgency after the North's unconfirmed claim on Feb. 10 that it has built nuclear weapons. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, met Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. "I was sent here to exchange opinions," Wu said in a meeting with Ban, without elaborating. He spoke in Chinese, and his comments were translated into Korean. Wu was scheduled to meet his counterpart, Song Min-soon, later in the day. Wu and Song are top negotiators in the North Korean nuclear dispute. On Thursday, Wu will also meet Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Seoul who has been named Washington's top negotiator in the North Korean nuclear dispute.
