The chief South Korean and U.S. negotiators say it is too early to resume six-party nuclear talks with North Korea, dashing Chinese hopes that they can start soon before the hermit country retreats into its shell.South Korea's chief representative Cho Tae-yong met with the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy Glyn Davies in Seoul on Tuesday. "It would be possible to resume the six-party talks, only if [North Korea] reaffirms that the goal of the talks is to achieve its denuclearization and if [the other parties] agree that the talks will bear fruition for denuclearization," Cho told reporters afterwards.
Davies added, "Right now, we simply do not see positive attitude of North Korea toward fulfilling its obligations and commitments to living up to UN Security Council resolutionsÂ… The obstacle to resuming six-party talks remains very much that North Korea continues to assert its nuclear status."
Xi told his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in St. Petersburg last Friday he hopes the six-party talks will resume "at an early date."