China confirms special envoy's DPRK visit

China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei had visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) last week to discuss resumption of the six-party talks, a Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed Monday.

Wu made the five-day visit, starting from Aug. 26, at the invitation of Pyongyang's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

The two sides exchanged views on the situation of the peninsula and the restart of the long-stalled six-party talks, the spokesman said.

The multilateral negotiations, which also involve the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia, were last held in December 2008.

The DPRK quit the aid-for-denuclearization talks in April 2009 in protest against fresh United Nations sanctions, but it recently expressed its wish to return to the negotiating table.

Kim, DPRK's top negotiator to the talks, visited China and Russia earlier this year to gain their support for the multilateral dialogue.