Host China announced the line-up for next week's talks on North Korea's nuclear program on Thursday, saying North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il would lead Pyongyang's negotiating team.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim was relatively junior among eight North Korean vice foreign ministers, but had worked closely with China in arranging the six-party talks.

China's Foreign Ministry said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly would represent Washington while Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Beijing's point man on North Korea, would lead the Chinese delegation.

Russia's envoy would be Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, Japan's would be Foreign Ministry official Mitoji Yabunaka and South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck, spokesman Kong Quan said in a statement on the Foreign Ministry Web site, www.fmprc.gov.cn.

Yonhap said Kim took on his post in 2000, and had been working on Asian affairs for two years.

The other negotiators have all been key players in the diplomatic shuttling aimed at ending the 10-month crisis over North Korea's suspected nuclear program. The three days of talks begin in Beijing on Wednesday.

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