South Korea and China prepare for high-level security talks.

According to a diplomatic source cited by Yonhap news agency on May 12, South Korea and China plan to hold high-level security talks in Beijing later this month, as Seoul seeks to urge Beijing to do more to deter North Korea from conducting a fourth nuclear test.

The source, who requested anonymity, said that South Korean President Kim Jang-soo's National Security Advisor is expected to visit Beijing and hold talks with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China's top foreign policy planner, in the fourth week of this month.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se (right) and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at a meeting on the North Korean issue in 2013. (Source: AFP/VNA)

This was the second high-level security meeting between the two countries since November 2013 and took place amid threats from North Korea to conduct a fourth nuclear test since late March. Last week, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said that Pyongyang had made the final preparations to detonate a nuclear device.

According to the source, "the two sides are in the process of setting the agenda for the second South Korea-China High-Level Security Dialogue," and the agenda is expected to focus on how to get North Korea to change its behavior.

This meeting is also part of the preparations for Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to South Korea, which is widely anticipated in the coming weeks.

According to VNA