Seoul  - South Korea on Sunday expressed pessimism ahead of the next round of international talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Speaking before his flight to Beijing where the six-party talks are begin at a nearly five-month pause, South Korean envoy Kim Sook said he was "not at all optimistic" concerning the prospects for success of the negotiations, but one would have to wait and see.

The goal of the talks to start Monday is to be a "protocol" in which the inspection of North Korean nuclear activities are to be recorded in writing, Kim was quoted by the KBS broadcaster as saying.

In reference to bilateral talks held between the US and North Korea on Friday in Singapore, Kim said that as far as he knew there had been "no explicit outcome or new compromise."

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, Kim is to meet with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Gwan before the official talks.

The six-party talks, which include the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan, is to start Monday afternoon in Beijing. China has so far not officially announced the talks.

On Saturday, North Korea stated that it would not recognize Japan as a participant in the next round of talks, accusing Tokyo of failing to fulfill its obligations within the six-party talks.

The Tokyo government has been refusing to supply agreed economic and energy aid before there is a full investigation into what it says were abductions by North Korean agents of Japanese during the 1970s and 1980s. (dpa)