Vice foreign minister Wu Dawei will meet his North Korean counterpart for the six-nation talks, Kim Kye-Gwan, to discuss disarmament steps ahead of a key year-end deadline, ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

"They will exchange opinions on issues of common concern regarding the six-party talks," Qin said.

He did not say exactly when Wu would travel to North Korea next week, or how long he would stay.

Qin also told reporters that officials from the six nations involved in the denuclearisation talks began two days of meetings in Beijing on Tuesday to discuss energy and economic assistance to Pyongyang.

The working group talks will discuss details of providing heavy fuel oil and other energy and economic assistance to the North, South Korea's foreign ministry said.

After testing its first nuclear device in October last year, North Korea agreed to a six-nation deal in February to disable all its atomic programmes in return for energy aid and diplomatic and security concessions.

As part of that agreement, Pyongyang agreed to disable its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon and declare all its atomic programmes before the end of the year.

The country would then eventually completely and irreversibly scrap its nuclear programmes.

However, South Korean and US officials say the December 31 deadline for the declaration may be missed because of disagreements over the North's suspected highly enriched uranium weapons programme.

Last week US President George W. Bush sent a personal letter to the North's leader Kim Jong-Il, urging him fully to declare all nuclear activity.

China chairs the six-nation talks, which began in August 2003 and also include the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan.

In another development, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Tuesday.

A two-day visit by Han, which began on Monday, was aimed at improving bilateral ties as well as discussing the North Korean nuclear issue.

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