 | South Korean policemen remove mock North Korea missiles on top of vans of anti-North Korean protesters in Busan on 13 July 2006. The UN Security Council edged closer to a crucial vote on the North Korea missile tests amid signs of compromise, with all eyes on China, which has threatened to veto any mandatory punitive action against its Pyongyang ally. click to open  |
 | Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso(L) shakes hands with US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill on 10 July 2006. The UN Security Council edged closer to a crucial vote on the North Korea missile tests amid signs of compromise, with all eyes on China, which has threatened to veto any mandatory punitive action against its Pyongyang ally. click to open  |
 | South Korean Foreign Minister arrives for a weekly briefing at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2005. Ban said Tuesday he plans to visit China this week and the United States next week to discuss stalled international talks aimed at getting North Korea to abandon nuclear development. click to open  |
 | South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon listens reporter's question during a weekly briefing at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2005. Ban said Tuesday he plans to visit China this week and the United States next week to discuss the stalled international talks aimed at getting North Korea to abandon nuclear development. click to open  |
 | Song Min-soon, South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister and their top negotiator for the six-party talks, leaves his hotel after talks in Beijing August 7, 2005. Envoys to stalled six-party talks battling to resolve the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions agreed on Sunday to take a three-week recess to consult their governments, the Chinese hosts have announced. click to open  |
 | US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (C) and South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon (L) listen to Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei (not in picture) address the press after a recess in six-party talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing Aug 6th 2005. Talks were to resume the week of August 29 but with the US and North Korea again trading barbs, it was unclear how to move forward in the three-year standoff with North Korea, which again said it was making nuclear weapons. click to open  |
 | Kim Kye-gwan, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister and top negotiator for the six-party talks, returns to the North Korean embassy in China's captial Beijing August 6, 2005. Six-party talks to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis will continue into a 13th day on Sunday but weary negotiators said they were preparing for a recess that will allow them to return home for consultations. click to open  |
 | A Chinese paramilitary police walks pass pictures of North Korean leaders Kim Jong-il (R) and Kim Il-sung outside the North Korean embassy in China's captial Beijing August 6, 2005. click to open  |
 | Kim Kye-gwan (C), North Korean Vice Foreign Minister and top negotiator for the six-party talks,speaks to journalists outside the North Korean embassy in Beijing August 4, 2005. North Korea said on Thursday it was committed to denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula but insisted on its right to maintain nuclear programmes for peaceful use, a demand that has blocked progress at crisis talks in China. click to open  |
 | U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill waves from a car as he leaves for a tenth day of talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, in Beijing Thursday Aug. 4, 2005. China was struggling to persuade its ally North Korea to agree to a statement meant to lay the foundation for nuclear disarmament as the protracted round of negotiations entered their tenth day on Thursday. click to open  |