China has confirmed that the next round of six-country talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program will begin November 9 in Beijing.
The date was announced Thursday, by China's Foreign Ministry.
Next Wednesday's start for the six-party talks comes just ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum November 18 and 19 in Busan, South Korea.
At the last round of nuclear talks in September, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for economic aid and security assurances.
But Pyongyang then said it will not disarm unless it is first given a civilian light-water nuclear reactor for power generation - a demand U.S. officials say is unacceptable.
The six party talks include both Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States.