(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Seoul April 28 - South Korea and China have been discussing holding a summit as early as late May government sources said Monday amid the rising possibility of North Korea's additional nuclear test.
China's President Xi Jinping had been planning to visit Seoul in mid-2014 for a summit meeting with South Korea's President Park Geun-hye. The ongoing discussion to advance the talks is seen as being aimed at blocking a possible nuclear test by Pyongyang in the near future according to South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency.
"(South Korea) is having discussions with the Chinese side with an aim to hold the Seoul-Beijing summit meeting within the first half of this year" a source said.
Another source said "I heard that President Xi is likely to visit South Korea in late May." The sources also said that China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi may visit South Korea ahead of the Chinese president as part of preparation efforts for the summit meeting. The foreign minister's visit is also being discussed between the countries they said.
South Korea's defense ministry said last week that increased activity was detected in North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site indicating that the country is ready to detonate a nuclear device in the near future.
During the expected summit meeting the leaders of South Korea and China may reassert their intolerance against North Korea's nuclear weapons possession warning Pyongyang against a nuclear test according to the sources.
China a long-time ally and sponsor of North Korea has recently ratcheted up its pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons while also stepping up the country's implementation of United Nations' punitive sanctions against North Korea's nuclear activities.
Since 2006 the North has conducted three nuclear tests with the outside world suspecting the country is near the completion of its intercontinental ballistic missile development.
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