S Korea's new nuclear envoy to visit China Friday

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency says the country's new chief nuclear envoy, Hwang Joon-kook is set to visit China Friday. Hwang Joon-kook was appointed Seoul's lead negotiator on the nuclear standoff last week.

During the two-day visit, Hwang will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei on restarting the talks on the DPRK's nuclear program. Hwang concluded a trip to Washington D.C. Thursday, where he held trilateral and bilateral meetings with his US and Japanese counterparts.

In Beijing, Hwang is expected to discuss the results of his meetings in Washington with his counterpart. Chinese envoy Wu Dawei is expected to convey the DPRK's position on the nuclear program as he visited Pyongyang last month. Wu is expected to visit Washington after discussions with Hwang.

The six-party talks have been stalled since the last session in late 2008. The DPRK demands that the talks resume without any preconditions, but Seoul and Washington say Pyongyang should first take steps demonstrating its denuclearization commitment.