BEIJING, Jan. 22 - U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill arrived here Sunday to discuss with Chinese officials a possible date to resume the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

 

According to the U.S. embassy in Beijing, Hill will meet with his Chinese counterpart, vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, later in the afternoon, briefing Wu about his meeting in Berlin with top negotiator of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) KimKye Gwan.

 

"I will ask him about his thoughts on when we can schedule the next round of six-party talks, because we'd like to do that as soon as possible," Hill told reporters upon arrival at the Beijing airport.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that Wu will meet with the U.S. assistant secretary of state in the evening but gave no details of the meeting.

 

Prior to his arrival in the Chinese capital, Hill visited Seoul and Tokyo, where he exchanged views with his counterparts there.

 

Hill told officials in Tokyo that the United States and the DRRK agreed to restart talks as soon as possible and strive for concrete progress.

 

The United States and the DPRK held rare one-on-one talks in Berlin from Tuesday to Thursday last week. Hill described in Seoul his meeting with Kim Kye Gwan in Berlin as "very useful."

 

The six-party talks involve China, the DPRK, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States, Japan and Russia, with the first round held in 2003. At the latest round of talks held in late December in Beijing, the parties failed to make major progress but agreed to have another session as soon as possible.