Thursday, November 3 2005 14:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: The six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme will resume in Beijing on November nine, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan said today (Nov 3, 2005).

"After consultations with relevant parties the six-party talks will begin on November nine," Kong told reporters.

China said on Tuesday it had proposed the date to the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia for the next round of talks and was awaiting confirmation from all sides.

The last round of the protracted talks ended in September with a statement of principles under which North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons programme in return for energy and security guarantees.

But Pyongyang later warned it would not dismantle its nuclear arsenal before the United States supplied it with a light-water atomic reactor to generate electricity.

The United States says North Korea must first disarm.