Six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons programme may resume on Sept. 2 and are likely to make more progress than the previous round, China's top envoy to the forum was quoted as saying on Thursday. "The talks could resume from Sept. 2," visiting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei was quoted by Mizuho Fukushima, leader of Japan's Social Democratic Party, as telling her in a meeting. Fukushima told Reuters that Wu also said: "I think there will be more progress than before." Wu is to visit Pyongyang soon, Fukushima said without elaborating, adding that Wu had given her no further details about the talks, including whether the United States and North Korea had agreed to start the talks on Sept. 2. "He said the various countries are making efforts regarding the talks, and so for that reason more progress is likely than in previous rounds," Fukushima said. Following a gap of more than a year, the parties -- the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia -- met in Beijing for nearly two weeks before breaking off earlier this month with a decision to reconvene during the week of Aug. 29. --More 1219 Local Time 0919 GMT
