SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea opposes engaging the North in another round of “talks for talks’ sake,” its foreign minister said Monday, after a special North Korean envoy reportedly told Beijing that the North was ready to return to the negotiating table.

The envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, made the statement when he met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Friday, according to the official Chinese news media. Reporting the same meeting, however, North Korea’s state-run news media reported neither Vice Marshal Choe’s comment nor Mr. Xi’s call for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

That glaring gap between the two Communist allies cast doubt on the prospects for reconvening the long-stalled six-nation talks intended to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs. China wanted to revive negotiations after a hiatus of more than four years. But the United States and South Korea insisted that reconvening the forum would be meaningless unless the North convinced them that it was serious about giving up its nuclear weapons.

“We oppose talks for talks’ sake,” said Yun Byung-se, the South Korean foreign minister, on Monday. “North Korea must demonstrate its sincerity through action by honoring its international obligations and promises regarding denuclearization.”