Chinese official visits North Korea

China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei visited North Korea last week to discuss resumption of the six-party nuclear talks, the government confirmed Monday. Wu made the five-day visit, starting from August 26, at the invitation of North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a press conference in Beijing, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The two sides exchanged views on the situation of the peninsula and the restart of the long-stalled six-party talks, Hong said. The multilateral negotiations, which also involve the US, South Korea, Japan and Russia, were last held in December 2008. The North quit the aid-for-denuclearization talks in April 2009 in protest against fresh United Nations sanctions, but it recently expressed its wish to return to the negotiating table. Kim, North Korean top negotiator to the talks, visited China and Russia earlier this year to gain their support for the multilateral dialogue.