South Africa will attempt to persuade the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to drop plans for further missile tests and return to the six-party talks during a meeting between the two countries on Tuesday.

The topic of Pyongyang's missile tests last week is expected to be high on the agenda of a meeting between Kim Hyong-jun, deputy foreign minister of the DPRK, and his South African counterpart Aziz Pahad.

Issues for discussion include "a briefing on the situation in the Korean peninsula with regard to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear disarmament within the context of the Six-Party Talks," said a statement from the South African Foreign Ministry.

Pahad said last week, after meeting with Japan's senior vice minister for Foreign Affairs Yasuhisa Shiozaki, that he would urge the DPRK to stop missile tests and to return to the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

"We'll be trying to convince everybody ... that it's (missile testing is) not in their (the DPRK's) interest, it's not in the interest of the region, it's not in the interest of international peace and stability to open another front of tension," Pahad said.

Since last November, the DPRK has boycotted the six-party talks, which involve China, the DPRK, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan, saying it would not come back to the negotiating table until the United States revoked its sanctions.

Japan has been pushing for United Nations Security Council sanctions to be imposed on Pyongyang following the tests. The Security Council on Monday put off a vote on sanctions against the country to give diplomacy a chance.

Japan has asked South Africa to take up the issue with the DPRK using diplomacy as the main tool.

Pahad said South Africa was not in favor of UN sanctions but would urge the DPRK to stop the tests and return to the six-party talks.

Source: Xinhua