The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced Friday it has established a task force that will deal exclusively with the North Korean nuclear issue, for the resolution of which six-nation talks will convene later this month in Beijing.

The ministry said the task force was created in anticipation of an increase in the ministry's workload concerning the North Korean nuclear standoff and the likelihood of forming a regular working-level consultative body for the six-party talks.

Cho Tae-yong, a career diplomat now serving as a presidential protocol officer, will head the new team.

The new group will take over related duties from the ministry's North American Affairs Bureau and work out strategies for the nuclear issue and the six-nation talks. The ministry also said that Cho will serve concurrently as the deputy chief of the government