Japan has asked China to avoid holding the next round of six-way talks on North Korea from Dec. 10 through Dec. 13 as it would clash with another summit, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Friday.

While China and North Korea have reportedly agreed to hold the six-way talks in Beijing on the above dates, a summit between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is slated for Dec. 11 and 12 in Tokyo.

"Actually, (the ministry) will not be able to deal with it," Kawaguchi told a regular news conference. "I don't think we can hold (the ASEAN meeting) without the attendance of the director in charge."

Mitoji Yabunaka, who heads the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, is Japan's representative in the six-way framework dealing with North Korea's nuclear program. He is also a senior ministry figure in charge of the Japan-ASEAN meeting.

In a related move, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo stressed the need to consider North Korea's security concerns and to resolve the issues at hand peacefully through dialogue. "(We) hope to establish peace and stability by taking into consideration North Korea's security concern," Dai was quoted as telling Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during a meeting.

Separately, Kawaguchi told Dai that Japan plans to seek a comprehensive resolution of issues tied to North Korea, including nuclear development, missile development and the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents in 1970s and 1980s.