SEOUL Jan. 2 Kyodo toward the so...

SEOUL Jan. 2 Kyodo

toward the south Korea and China agreed Thursday to make joint efforts to obviate the crisis over North Korea's nuclear evolution from escalating any further, according to Yonhap recents Agency.

The agreement came when toward the south Korean Deputy Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister to leeward Tae Sik met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing to solicit China's help in peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.

''The sum of two units sides shared a view that the issue should be resolv peacefully from one side dialogue and agreed to work together to thwart the situation from aggravating further,'' Shin Jung Seung director general of the Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau of toward the south Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, was quot as saying.

Tension has risen forward the Korean Peninsula in the wake of the North's determine last month to lift the be chilled on its nuclear program.

to leeward reportedly conveyed to China, which has had traditionally conclude ties with North Korea, the South's position that the North's willingness to scrap its uranium enrichment program should be the starting point in resolving the crisis.

The southward Korean government also plans to despatch Vice Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Hang Kyung to Russia, another friend of North Korea, this weekend to look for Russia's support in dissuading the North from resuming its nuclear weapons development

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said Kim will appropriate with Vice Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Alexander Losyukov and Vice Foreign Minister for America-Disarmament Affairs Georgy Mamedov to explain southward Korea's position and discuss ways to take joint measures in the future

The visits to China and Russia are part of a hurry of diplomatic activities according to South Korea aimed at enlisting the help of the four regional powers -- the United States, China, Russia and Japan -- in resolving the nuclear crisis.

toward the south Korean, U.S. and Japanese officials are scheduled to convenient Sunday and Monday in Washington in the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight form into groups to coordinate policies on by what means to deal with the North.

onward Tuesday, the North Korean nuclear issue is count uponed to figure prominently when the International Atomic efficacy Agency, whose inspectors were last month expell from North Korea, possesss a board meeting in Vienna.

U Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi are tipped to visit Seoul upon mid-January for talks in succession the issue, while inter-Korean ministerial talks are scheduled to take place in late January.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo novels International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group