A top U.S. envoy sought China's help Thursday in easing the threat of war on the Korean peninsula, hoping to gain insights about a Chinese official's recent meeting with North Korea's absolute leader Kim Jong Il. Accordign to AP, Stephen Bosworth made no comment on his arrival in Beijing on Wednesday night, and the U.S. Embassy said he was to meet Thursday with Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun and Senior Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Wu Dawei. He was expected to travel to Japan later Thursday. Bosworth is expected to ask China for information on last month's talks in Pyongyang between North Korean leader Kim and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Beijing's top foreign policy official. China has come under growing pressure to push North Korea, its close ally, to change its behavior after the communist country shelled a South Korean island late last year, killing four people. North Korea will be a key issue during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington later this month. Bosworth met Wednesday in Seoul with South Korean officials and said he was hopeful for «serious negotiations» soon on the North.
