China understands inter-Korean dialogue of six-party talks

South Korea believes that China understands an inter-Korean dialogue is the first step to resuming the long-stalled multinational talks on North Korea's nuclear program, a senior official at Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The remark by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, came a day after the Chinese foreign ministry hinted that both bilateral and multilateral dialogues for the resumption of six-party talks should occur side by side. The Chinese comments appeared to raise the possibility that Beijing may shift its stance for a so-called three-step approach toward resuming the multilateral negotiations involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. The proposal calls for North Korea to meet South Korea first and then the U.S. before reopening the multilateral forum. "China understands very well the situation that relevant parties need to create conditions for resuming the six-party talks and an inter-Korean dialogue should be prioritized," the Foreign Ministry official said. The official dismissed Tuesday's indication by the Chinese foreign ministry as "nothing new," saying it was a part of the Chinese stance that hopes to swiftly resume the six-party talks. Last week, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed in Washington that Seoul and Pyongyang must first hold bilateral talks before any move to reopen the six-party forum. The talks have been dormant since April 2009 when North Korea quit, angered by a fresh round of U.N. sanctions. The North conducted its second nuclear test a month later. Aside from the North's nuclear defiance, efforts to resume the six-party talks have also been complicated by the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year, which spiked tensions on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea said it is willing to hold bilateral talks with the North to gauge its sincerity over denuclearization, even without an apology over the attacks, but the North rejected the South's flexible proposal. In Washington on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters that the step-by-step approach for the resumption of six-party talks is a "viable option." "We want to see an improvement in the North-South relationship, and then we want to get back to the six-party talks," Nuland said of the comments by the Chinese foreign ministry. "We believe it's a viable option and we are making our position clear ... We are using our influence with China to get messages to North Korea and directly that both sides need to work on improving relations," she added.