Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck says that a working-level group for the six-party nuclear talks will likely convene next month.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing before flying back to Seoul, Lee said Tuesday that Seoul had hoped to hold the talks this month but the meeting was delayed due to scheduling difficulties.

Lee also said he believed parliament's impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun would not affect the six-nation talks. He cited that a framework for the viability of the nuclear dialogue had already been established in the previous round of talks held last month in Beijing.

Last month, the participants to the six-party talks the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia agreed to set up a working group to facilitate further dialogue in the main forum of the talks aimed at defusing the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.