Ahead of his talks with U.S. President George W. Bush, President Roh Moo-hyun met with Chinese leader Hu Jintao in Santiago, Chile, on Friday.

The two leaders agreed to make fresh efforts to kick-start deadlocked six-party talks aimed at resolving the twenty-five-month international standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Roh praised China’s role in the six-way forum and expressed hope that Beijing would continue to make efforts to peacefully resolve the nuclear tension as early as possible.

An aide accompanying President Roh says the Chinese president agreed to actively cooperate with Seoul to bring an early, peaceful end to the North’s nuclear row.

China has hosted three rounds of six-way nuclear talks, which include the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, and Russia, but no progress has been made.

The six countries had agreed to hold a fourth round of talks in September, but North Korea boycotted the meeting, citing perceived hostile policies by Washington, and the controversy over Seoul’s past nuclear experiments.