Leaders of China, South Korea and Japan have met in Beijing and called for an early resumption of talks on North Korea's nuclear programme.

Leaders of China, South Korea and Japan have met in Beijing and called for an early resumption of talks on North Korea's nuclear programme.

The nations said they were committed to a denuclearised Korean peninsula.

Tokyo and Seoul have been pushing a policy of withholding aid packages until after the North has dismantled its nuclear weapons programme.

But correspondents say that winning the support of China - a key ally of Pyongyang - may not be easy.

North Korea has already indicated that it may return to multi-party talks on the nuclear issue but has also said it wants direct negotiations with the US first.

In a joint statement issued after their morning summit in Beijing, the leaders said: "We will remain committed to dialogue and consultation and continue to work through peaceful means to pursue the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

"We will make joint efforts with other parties for an early resumption of the six-party talks, so as to safeguard peace and stability in north-east Asia."

The leaders also said they would work closely together to make the upcoming global climate change talks in Denmark a success.

Conditions

On Friday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bakPresident Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio HatoyamaYukio Hatoyama said sanctions against North Korea should remain in place until it began dismantling its nuclear programme.

But Mr Lee told reporters the countries had agreed on the "need for a fundamental and comprehensive solution" to the nuclear issue.

The two leaders agreed to offer North Korea a one-off package of aid in exchange for denuclearisation, instead of the step-by-step measures that have been followed since the talks began in 2003.

The BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing says South Korea and Japan might find it tough to win China's public support for their latest proposals as Beijing sees North Korea as a close ally.

But as North Korea's biggest trading partner, it holds the greatest sway over the secretive Pyongyang regime.

At the Beijing talks it was expected that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao would brief the other leaders on his recent meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.

On Monday, Mr Kim told Mr Wen he was "willing to attend multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, depending on the progress in its talks with the United States".

Pyongyang pulled out of the six party talks in April this year and tensions in the region rose after it launched a series of missiles and conducted an underground nuclear test - drawing UN sanctions in response.

The country had previously said it would never re-engage with the multilateral talks, which include delegates from the two Koreas, China, the US, Russia and Japan.

The US has said it is willing to engage directly with North Korea, but only as part of a return to the six-party forum.

Washington has said it is seeking the North's complete denuclearisation.