Focus on North Korea

South Korean, Japanese and US envoys will meet this week to try to coax North Korea back to talks on its nuclear programmes.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said the envoys would meet in Seoul to discuss a recent visit of a Chinese official to the North and the early resumption of the six-party talks aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions, which ground to a halt last year.

Pyongang's official media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had told a Chinese envoy visiting the North that his country would return to six-party nuclear talks if conditions were right and the United States showed sincerity.

It was the first statement by the reclusive Kim since North Korea declared on February 10 that it had atomic weapons and was pulling out of the talks with South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Japan.