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SEOUL, S KOREA - SIX-PARTY talks on scrapping North Korea's nuclear programmes will resume on Thursday in Beijing after a nine-month break, South Korea's chief negotiator Kim Sook said.
'The chief delegates of the six-party talks will meet (Thursday) for the first time in in nine months,' Mr Kim told reporters en route to Beijing.
China, which has hosted the forum since August 2003, has yet to announce a date for the widely expected resumption.
North Korea last month delivered a long-overdue declaration of its nuclear activities, clearing the way for progress in the tortuous negotiations.
In a dramatic gesture intended to stress its commitment to disarmament, it also blew up the cooling tower at the plutonium-producing Yongbyon complex.
'I will be in consultation with each country to secure an important bridgehead for achieving the goal that North Korea should eventually give up its nuclear weapons programmes,' Mr Kim told reporters.
Seoul's envoy also said working-level meetings would be held on de-nuclearisation and economic and energy aid in between the top-level talks.
The communist North last week said it could not go ahead with the next stage of a six-party de-nuclearisation deal until other parties speed up their promised energy aid. -- AFP
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