US to talk N. Korea with China

The US says it plans to speak with China at an upcoming strategy meeting on the issue of North Korea and how to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons.

The United States plans to use upcoming talks with top Chinese officials to discuss ways to bring greater pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"The outcome that we're looking for is North Korean agreement to negotiate the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel told reporters on Tuesday.

"We have a vastly improved chance of getting that with China's full cooperation, and we intend to use the (US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue) to game out how we can speed up the outcome that we're both working to achieve," he said.