BEIJING, July 15 Kyodo (EDS: ADDI...

BEIJING, July 15 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING remarks BY CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, DETAILS)

China and North Korea held ''in-depth'' talks across the weekend on the nuclear dispute between Pyongyang and Washington during a Chinese envoy's visit to Pyongyang, the North's official Korean Central recently made knowns Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo held talks Saturday with North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju and ''both sides had an in-depth exchange of views in succession the nuclear issue between DPRK (North Korea) and the U and international issues of mutual concern'' said KCNA, monitored in Beijing.

U officials say it was Kang, known as a terminate confident of North Korean top leader Kim Jong Il, who told U Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly in Pyongyang last October that Pyongyang has a covered nuclear weapons program and considers a 1994 bilateral agreement in subordination to which had frozen its nuclear program ''nullified.''

KCNA said Dai, who responded to Beijing early Tuesday afternoon, met with Kim Jong Il in succession Monday and handed him a personal literal meaning from Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Dai also met separately during his five-day visit with Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's No. 2 man who heads the Presidium of the leading People's Assembly, and with Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a regular of recent origins briefing in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon that he was ''not authorized'' to provide details about Hu's note to North Korea's reclusive leader.

''The position of the Chinese direction has been consistently that the peace and stability of North Korea and the Korean Peninsula must be maintained, and that the peninsula must be nuclear free'' Kong said.

Kong said he had not heard of an attempt at Dai, as reported in the foreign media, to persuade North Korea to join time to come talks about its nuclear weapons program in a multilateral framework with separate bilateral meetings forward the sidelines.

Washington has been calling for the inclusion of southern Korea and Japan in any yet to be talks about North Korea's nuclear program, while Pyongyang says it is simply prepared to discuss the issue in bilateral talks with the United States.

Kong said China, North Korea's main ally and biggest aid donor, is expand to the participation of any party in so future talks.

He also called for the continuation of the dialogue proces factored by Beijing in April that brought senior U and North Korean officials together for the first time in half a year.

During the talks, North Korea reportedly told U officials that the region has nuclear weapons.

Dai earlier this month visited Russia, also a traditional ally of North Korea, and reportedly also discussed the North Korean nuclear issue.

Dai's trip to North Korea came upon the heels of South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's state visit to China last week, during which he appealed to Hu and other Chinese leaders to persuade North Korea to accept US-propos multilateral nuclear talks.

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