BEIJING, March 10 (UPI) -- Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said "a serious lack of trust" between the countries involved slows progress in the six-party talks on North Korea.
Wu met Friday with Kim Kye-Gwan, North Korea's senior negotiator, to discuss the next round of talks, which are scheduled to begin March 19. The previous round ended with a preliminary agreement by North Korea to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid.
Wu said he hopes to arrange working group meetings March 17 and 18 on issues like normalizing North Korea's relationships with South Korea and Japan.
"Due to various factors including historical ones, a serious lack of trust between relevant countries has been the biggest problem for the six-party talks, making it difficult to take every step forward," Wu said.
