South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang Ung flew to China Wednesday amid international efforts to bring North Korea back to the talks on its nuclear programme. During his four-day visit, Yoon will meet his Chinese counterpart Cao Gangchuan and other ranking military officials for discussions on how to solve the nuclear issue and to ease military tensions between the two Korean states, the defense ministry said in Seoul. South Korea and the United States are hoping that Beijing can exert its influence on Pyongyang to convince the reclusive state to resume six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions. North Korea has boycotted the talks since the last round in June last year. China was host to three rounds of the so far unsuccessful talks, in which also the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Russia participated. Resuming the six-party negotiations has become a more urgent matter since February, when North Korea declared that it already has nuclear weapons.
