Australian Diplomat Says Talks with DPRK Constructive

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 17, 2003

Australian Diplomat Says Talks with DPRK Constructive

Talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were "useful and constructive," said asenior Australian diplomat Thursday in Pyongyang.

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Talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were "useful and constructive," said asenior Australian diplomat Thursday in Pyongyang.

Murray McLean, head of the five-member Australian delegation aswell as an expert on North Asian affairs of the Australian ForeignMinistry, made the remarks without elaborating on the talks.

Meanwhile, a diplomat from the DPRK Foreign Ministry told Xinhua that the Australian delegation held talks on Thursday with DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun and a director of the Asian Department of the Foreign Ministry, and listened to the DPRK's views on the nuclear issue.

The delegation also met on Wednesday with DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choi Su-hon, a source said on condition of anonymity.

It was reported that the delegation would present a letter fromAustralian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to his DPRK counterpart, calling on Pyongyang to cooperate with diplomatic moves to defuse the rising tensions.

The Australian delegation, which will stay here through Saturday, is the first Western delegation to visit the DPRK for settlement of the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

Australia established diplomatic relations with the DPRK in 1974. Broken in 1975, the diplomatic ties were resumed in 2000.

Australia has long intended to set up its embassy in Pyongyang,but the plan was suspended after the United States claimed last October that the DPRK was developing an uranium enrichment programfor nuclear development, which is in violation of the Agreed Framework reached by the two sides in 1994.

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