Seoul, July 19, SPA -- International nuclear arms talkswith North Korea will resume July 26 in Beijing after beingstalled for 13 months because of the communist nation'srefusal to attend, the South Korean Foreign Ministry saidTuesday. North Korea agreed earlier this month to return to thetalks during the week of July 25, after being assured bythe top U.S. nuclear envoy that Washington recognized itssovereignty. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Tuesdaythat the talks would convene July 26 but gave no closingdate. The previous three rounds starting in 2003 lasted forseveral days and failed to lead to any breakthroughs. SouthKorea is pressing for this round of the six-nation talks tobe more flexible and last longer _ possibly up to a monthor more. South Korea plans to "play a progressive and active rolein making substantial progress at this round of six-partytalks for resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem,"the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to a report of The Associated Press. China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United Stateshave sought at the talks to persuade the North to abandonits nuclear weapons.--SPA1042 Local Time 0742 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/277745