S.Korea FM to visit China, talks on North's missile

SEOUL, June 25 (Reuters) South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon will meet Chinese officials in China tomorrow and will raise the issue of a possible missile launch by North Korea, a ministry official said.

The two-day trip comes after US officials said last week that Pyongyang was preparing to test a long-range ballistic missile, throwing a wrench into the stalled six-party negotiations over the communist state's nuclear ambitions.

Ban planned to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho said.

''They will discuss a number of issues, including bilateral relationships and North Korea's possible missile test,'' Lee added by telephone.

Yesterday, Ban told Yonhap news agency that he would ask Beijing to take a constructive role in dissuading Pyongyang from launching the missile test as it did in the previous six-party nuclear talks that involved the United States, Japan, Russia, China and two Koreas.

REUTERS SY VC1450