The six-nation talks aimed at halting North Korea's nuclear-weapons programme are to resume next week as planned, the leaders of Japan's and China's delegations said Wednesday, dpa reported. However, Japan's Kenichiro Sasae and China's We Dawei did not say what day the two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia would take up their talks again in Beijing, Japanese media reported. The current fourth round of the talks were suspended in stalemate on August 7 after 13 days of negotiations. The parties agreed to meet again this coming week amid concern that, like the previous rounds, the current one would end without a result and dim the possibility of further talks. During the suspension, diplomats of the six nations have held consultations on moving the talks forward. The United States and North Korea, whose disagreements have so far stalled the negotiations, have held direct discussions, and diplomats have carried out shuttle diplomacy between their capitals. -- SPA 1355 Local Time 1055 GMT
