LEAD: N. Korean, S. Korean nuke negotiators arrive in Beijing

BEIJING, Jan. 22 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH ARRIVAL OF S. KOREAN NEGOTIATOR, PLAN FOR JAPANESE COUNTERPART TO TRAVEL TO BEIJING ON WED., INCORPORATING ELEMENTS FROM STORY HEADLINED 'HILL HEADS HOME AFTER AGREEMENT TO RESTART NUKE TALKS SOON')

North Korean and South Korean negotiators for the six-party nuclear talks arrived in Beijing on Monday, as a flurry of diplomacy continued to lay the groundwork for the next round of the negotiations aimed at ending the North Korean standoff.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan arrived on Monday morning from Moscow, where he met with his Russian counterpart in the nuclear talks.

Kim did not speak to reporters as he arrived at Beijing's international airport.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chun Yung Woo, meanwhile, arrived in the Chinese capital later in the day and said he will meet with Wu Dawei, the Chinese chief delegate to the talks, on Tuesday before returning home on the same day.

Asked whether he would be meeting with North Korea's Kim as well, Chun said, ''Since we are in the same city at the same time, I may think about meeting him if there is a need to do so,'' he said.

The arrival of the two nuclear negotiators in Beijing comes at a time when China is tasked with consulting with representatives of the talks -- which include the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- to decide on the date for the next round.

Christopher Hill, the U.S. chief delegate to the six-way talks, also met with Wu in Beijing during a stay of less than 24 hours from Sunday.

''I had lengthy discussions last night with my (Chinese) counterpart Wu Dawei. We agreed on the need to try to get the six-party talks going as soon as possible,'' Hill told reporters shortly before his departure early Monday morning.

''He will talk to the other participants and we hope that the Chinese government will be able to announce soon the start of the talks,'' he said.

Hill also said a series of talks with his counterparts in the six-way process over the past week helped establish ''a basis for making progress'' in the next round of discussions.

''Based on all the consultations we've had in the last week or so, I think we have a basis for getting together as soon as possible in the six-party process and making progress,'' he said.

The meetings Hill mentioned include rare talks between him and Kim held in Berlin last week. Hill has declined to discuss the specifics of the discussions, but has said the two representatives agreed on the need to resume the six-way talks as soon as possible.

Hill also said he expects talks between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's main complaint -- U.S. financial restrictions taken against a Macao-based bank suspected of laundering money and circulating counterfeit bills for Pyongyang -- to be held ''very soon.''

The talks will be held ''probably either at the same time or even before'' the six-way talks, Hill said. A venue for the talks has yet to be decided, he added.

The row over the financial measures prevented the six-party talks from making progress in the last round in December, which was held after a 13-month hiatus.

In the December talks, North Korea refused to discuss the nuclear issue until the financial issue was solved.

Japan's delegate to the six-way talks Kenichiro Sasae, meanwhile, was also expected to travel to Beijing from Wednesday, Japanese government sources said.

Sasae, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, is expected to meet with Wu to discuss the schedule of the next nuclear discussions, according to the sources.

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