Agence France Presse

Bangkok, July 25:

Thailand will do what it can to help resolve the Korean nuclear standoff, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told North Korea’s foreign minister today on the eve of key six-party talks in Beijing. “The Thai premier said Thailand was ready to help solve problems on the Korean peninsula if North Korea sees Thailand’s help as useful,” Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said after Thaksin met North Korea’s Paek Nam-Sun. Meanwhile, a report from Beijing said bilateral talks between the US and North Korea ended here today. The meeting was held between chief US negotiator Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-Gwan in western Beijing. Six-party negotiations over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme get under way tomorrow.