LONDON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan wants North Korea's partners to bring it back to the nuclear negotiating table.
He made the plea at an informal meeting Thursday with reporters during a visit to London after Pyonyang announced it had pulled out of the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program.
"I hope it's not a definitive position because quite a lot of the other countries involved in the six-party talks and my own envoy, who has been visiting North Korea and the region, believe that that is the route to go and they are hopeful that it will yield results," Annan said, referring to Maurice Strong, his envoy to North Korea.
"I expect that with efforts by the other countries involved, North Korea could be brought back to the table. And so, I would urge them to engage North Korea and bring them back to the table and for the talks to resume as quickly as possible," he said.
The talks were part of the so-called Beijing process among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
