Diplomats from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Seoul later this week to discuss restarting six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program.
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon will meet Saturday with Christopher Hill, the U.S. Ambassador to Seoul, and Kenichiro Sasae, the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania bureau.
North Korea announced on February 10 that it had produced nuclear weapons and was withdrawing from negotiations with the three nations, plus China and Russia, to end its nuclear program. But North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told a visiting Chinese diplomat this week that it will resume talks if conditions are right.
South Korea's foreign minister said Wednesday that Pyongyang should return to the talks without setting any conditions.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.