North Korea's nuclear envoys appeared to be absent from a two-day forum hosted by a Chinese state-run think tank to discuss ways to restart long-stalled nuclear talks, a diplomatic source involved in the forum said Friday, in an apparent snub at China's latest push to resume the six-party talks.
  
The forum, organized by the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), is meant to mark the 10th anniversary of a landmark deal in which North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security assurances.
  
South Korea and Russia sent their deputy nuclear envoys to the forum that began Friday, while the U.S. and Japanese officials from their embassies in Beijing attended the forum, the source said.
  
The absence of North Korean envoys was in sharp contrast to a similar forum hosted by the CIIS two years ago, when Pyongyang sent its First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan and chief nuclear envoy Ri Yong-ho to Beijing.
  
"North Korean nuclear envoys were not listed on the official guest list at the forum," the source said on the condition of anonymity.
  
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will make a speech on Saturday at the end of the forum, which is being held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
  
The nuclear talks were last held in Beijing in late 2008.
  
Just days before the forum launched, North Korea hinted that it may launch a long-range rocket in October to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of its Workers' Party.
  
North Korea claims that its satellite launches are a peaceful project for science and economic development, calling it a sovereign right.
  
South Korea and the U.S. view the satellite launches as a cover for testing the North's ballistic missile technology, which is banned under a U.N. resolution.
  
North Korea also said that it has restarted operations of all facilities at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, including a uranium enrichment plant and a 5-megawatt reactor that would allow the North to expand its stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium. (Yonhap)