China proposing Dec. 16 for six-party talks: source

China has proposed resuming six-nation talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons programs on Dec. 16, a diplomatic source here said Saturday.

The source, asking to remain anonymous, said that China has made the proposal to each of the other five members of the talks -- the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia. Washington and Pyongyang have not yet replied, the source added.

"It's likely that North Korea will agree on the Dec. 16 proposal," the source said. "The U.S. is also deliberating the matter."

Lead negotiators were in Beijing last week for a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings aimed at clarifying each other's intentions. But they parted without setting a date for the resumption of the talks.

But on Friday, a senior U.S. official in Washington said the six-party talks could reopen within "the next 10 days or so."

"There is nothing to guarantee," he said, "but if there is a reconvening of the talks, then you can assume that everybody has a rational expectation that there would be an outline for some progress."

The U.S. and other members have repeatedly demanded that North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test on Oct. 9, take concrete steps toward nuclear dismantlement before the six-party talks reopen.

After a year-long boycott, North Korea agreed last month to come back to the six-nation forum. It did not give a reason for the unexpected turnaround, but claimed the U.S. agreed to discuss and resolve the issue of financial sanctions against it.

Seoul, Dec. 9 (Yonhap News)