N Korea Wants to Resume Six-Party Talks on Nuclear Program - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his interest in resuming six-party talks on the country's nuclear program during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that were held in late March, media reported on Thursday.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review news outlet, citing informed sources, Kim might raise the issue during the forthcoming North Korean-US summit that is due to be held in May.

In early March, a South Korean high-ranking delegation paid a visit to North Korea to hold talks with the North's leader Kim. Following the visit, the South Korean officials headed to the United States, where they transmitted Kim's invitation to hold a North Korean-US summit to US President Donald Trump. The summit will be preceded by a summit of the leaders of South Korea and the North, which is set to take place in late April.

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The six-party talks between China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States were first held in Beijing in 2003 after Pyongyang had withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In 2009, North Korea withdrew from the talks following the threats by the UN Security Council to strengthen sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang's missile tests.