**North Korea’s nuclear programme is to be the focus of an upcoming summit of the Japanese, South Korean and Chinese leaders, officials have said.**The international community has been pressing North Korea to return to talks aimed at its nuclear disarmament.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will host new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Beijing on 10 October.
The three leaders will also consider a plan to create an East Asian Community.
The foreign ministers of the three countries are to meet in Shanghai next week to prepare for the summit.
‘Grand bargain’
Mr Lee and Mr Hatoyama said on Wednesday that international sanctions against North Korea needed to be maintained while urging the country to return to the denuclearisation talks.
Mr Hatoyama, making his international debut after taking office last week, also met Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
China usually hosts the six-party talks - also including both Koreas, Japan, the US and Russia - which North Korea pulled out of earlier this year after international condemnation of a long-range missile launch.
Fresh UN sanctions were put in place after North Korea tested a second nuclear device in May, following a first test in 2006.
Recently, however, Pyongyang has signalled a willingness to engage in bilateral and multilateral talks on its nuclear programme.
On Monday, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak offered North Korea a “grand bargain” - giving up its nuclear plans for aid and security guarantees.