Their meeting lasted more than two-and-a-half hours, said a diplomat, although details of the talks were not immediately known.

"Their main interest is the North Korea nuclear issue," he said.

South Korea's foreign ministry had said in a statement Ban and his Chinese counterpart will have "intense discussions on South Korean-Chinese cooperation to help the talks bear fruit when they resume".

Six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions broke off Sunday for three weeks without any sign of agreement on how to get the Stalinst state to abandon atomic weapons.

The talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, are scheduled to resume in the final week of August.

A key sticking point was Pyongyang's insistence on the right to retain peaceful atomic reactors to produce energy, a demand flatly rejected by the US.

South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young threw a new wrinkle into the negotiations Thursday, telling an Internet news provider that Pyongyang had a "natural right" to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Seoul Friday scrambled to downplay the apparent policy rift with Washington.

Officials stressed Chung had been talking about what Pyongyang might have if the communist state rejoins a global non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and meets other international obligations.

"Our official stance is that North Korea would be able to engage in civilian nuclear activities if and when it gives up weapons programs, returns to the NPT and observes IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards," foreign ministry official Cho Tae-Yong told reporters.

The United States also denied there was a policy rift.

China and Russia have said they were not opposed to Pyongyang's peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The Americans adamantly oppose the idea, saying they were burned before when North Korea converted a civilian reactor into a processing facility for weapons-grade nuclear fuel.

Ban, who arrived in Beijing Thursday, was also scheduled to meet with State Councillor and former foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan Friday before leaving China Saturday.

He is accompanied by Seoul's chief delegate to the six-party talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon.

Seoul is holding a series of bilateral contacts with the countries involved to help bridge the gaps between the US and North Korea during the recess. Ban plans to visit the United States next week.

South Korea also plans to discuss the situation when North Korea sends a high-level delegation to Seoul next week for the 60th anniversary of the end of Japan's rule of Korea.

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