North Korea, China want Japan, Russia out of talks

North Korea and China do not want Japan and Russia to take part in multilateral talks on the North's suspected nuclear arms plans, the Korea Herald newspaper reported yesterday.

Pyongyang and Beijing opposed the two countries taking part because they were not directly connected to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea gave the United States a "road map" of ideas yesterday to help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis after Pyongyang's weekend decision to soften its stance on talks about its suspected atomic ambitions.

Seoul and Washington prefer multilateral talks including the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia and possibly some other countries.

The European Union could also play a role as a key aid donor.

The North had previously insisted on strictly bilateral talks with Washington.