U.S. President Barack Obama has called Chinese President Hu Jintao to reaffirm his pledge to denuclearize North Korea through six-party talks, Yonhap News reported quoting the White House.
"President Obama expressed appreciation for China's role as Chair of the Six-Party Talks and the two sides affirmed the importance of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
In the telephone conversation Obama placed earlier in the day "to build a more positive and constructive U.S.-China relationship," the two presidents "agreed to work together on global issues, specifically mentioning North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, counterterrorism, proliferation, and climate change," according to the spokesman.
Obama and Hu also agreed to cooperate closely to cope with the ongoing global economic crisis and Obama "stressed the need to correct global trade imbalances as well as to stimulate global growth and get credit markets flowing," Gibbs said.
The call was made two days after Obama telephoned Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso Wednesday and "agreed to work closely through the six-party talks process" to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.
The latest round of the on-and-off six-party talks, which began in 2003, stalled again last month as the North would not agree to a verification regime for its nuclear facilities, insisting it will agree to a verification protocol in the third and last phase of the nuclear deal.
The talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia are in their second phase, in which North Korea is supposed to disable its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, in return for 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or the equivalent.
The third phase calls for the North to dismantle its nuclear facilities and programs in exchange for massive economic aid and diplomatic recognition by Washington and Tokyo.
Obama has said he will continue the six-party talks while seeking more direct engagement with the reclusive, nuclear-armed communist state, but has not yet taken any concrete actions, amid speculation that the North Korean nuclear issue has been sidelined by the global economic crisis and the security challenges from the Middle East.
Obama has yet to nominate a special envoy for North Korea, although he appointed former Sen. George Mitchell as the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East last week, immediately after the Senate approval of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.