Pyongyang Uranium Program Figures in Beijing-Seoul Talks

South Korean officials say visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Wednesday expressed concern about North Korea's nuclear ambitions and promised to consult closely with Seoul about Pyongyang's uranium enrichment program.

China's official news agency, Xinhua, quoted Yang as saying that China actively supports talks between the two Koreas toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and long-term stability in the region.

During talks with President Lee Myung-bak and Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan in Seoul, the Chinese diplomat called for a more concerted effort to create conditions for early resumption of six-nation talks on North Korea's disarmament.

North Korea abandoned the talks in 2009 and conducted its second nuclear test, which led to tough international sanctions.

In New York Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council held a discussion on whether to publish a report describing progress North Korea made on its uranium enrichment program, despite the sanctions.

The talks ended without an official statement, but the French news agency quoted diplomats as saying that China, a council member with veto power, blocked the publication of the report.

Beijing has said the program, which could provide Pyongyang with fuel for nuclear weapons, should be dealt with in six-nation talks.

The U.N. report on North Korea was prepared by a panel of experts and submitted to the Security Council's sanctions committee on January 27. It reportedly says the enrichment program violates existing sanctions and that North Korea almost certainly has at least one other enrichment facility.

The enrichment program was disclosed in November when visiting U.S. experts were shown a facility with thousands of working centrifuges. North Korea says the facility is intended to produce fuel for a new nuclear reactor under construction to provide electricity.
Nor th Korea is believed to have already acquired enough plutonium from its Yongbyon nuclear reactor to make several nuclear weapons.