China has replaced its deputy negotiator to the stalled six-party talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, a diplomatic source in Seoul said Thursday.

Yang Houlan, who has held the post since February 2009, was recently appointed as China’s ambassador to Nepal in a “regular” reshuffle, the source said on the condition of anonymity.

“To my knowledge, Yang was moved to the new post in a recent regular personnel reshuffle,” the source said, adding that the Chinese government is now in the process of naming Yang’s successor.

Officials at China’s embassy in Seoul were not immediately available for comment.

The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, have been stalled since late 2008, but a flurry of renewed diplomatic efforts has been underway recently to reopen the multilateral dialogue.

The chief nuclear envoys of the two Koreas met in Indonesia for the first time in more than two years in late July, setting the tone for the renewed diplomacy and leading to a rare “exploratory” meeting between senior diplomats from the North and the U.S. in New York.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, during a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week, reportedly pledged to impose a moratorium on nuclear tests if the six-party talks resume. South Korea and the U.S. have demanded the North impose such a moratorium before, not after, the nuclear talks reopen. 

(Yonhap News)