The foreign ministers of South Korea and China will hold talks this week in Beijing ahead of a bilateral summit between their top leaders on the sidelines of the APEC gathering, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.
   
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will meet on Friday at the Chinese foreign ministry, according to the ministry.
  
"The two sides plan to exchange views about situations on the Korean Peninsula as well as bilateral and regional issues," Noh Kwang-il, Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.
   
A Seoul diplomat in Beijing said that North Korea's nuclear weapons program and free trade negotiations between Seoul and Beijing are expected to top the agenda of the Yun-Wang talks.
   
"The two foreign ministers are expected to discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, including North Korea," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
  
Separately, the trade ministers of South Korea and China were set for the 14th round of negotiations in Beijing later Thursday to try to wrap up a landmark free trade agreement. 
  
South Korean President Park Geun-hye is scheduled to visit Beijing to attend the APEC gathering and hold a bilateral summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines.   
   
South Korea and the U.S. have called on China to play a greater role in leading North Korea to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearize before any resumption of the nuclear talks with the North can take place, but China's efforts have still been seen as more accommodating toward North Korea. (Yonhap)