China's chief nuclear envoy left for Japan on
Saturday as Beijing has been pushing to reopen the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs, officials here said.
Wu Dawei, Beijing's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs, had been in Seoul for two days to attend meetings with South Korean
officials, including his South Korean counterpart, Wi Sung-lac.
During his stay, Wu said that Pyongyang is willing to accept Beijing's "three-step" proposal for resuming the nuclear talks.
The proposal calls for Pyongyang and Washington to first hold bilateral talks before all six parties have an informal preparatory meeting and then an official session.
The talks, which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S., have been stalled since late 2008.
The prospects of resuming the nuclear talks have been overshadowed by the North's deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March. South Korea has expressed its reluctance to reopen the dialogue unless the North shows a "responsible" attitude over the sinking and proves through action that it is serious about abandoning its nuclear programs.