Beijing Six-party Talks on Korean Nuclear Issue Begin

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Beijing Six-party Talks on Korean Nuclear Issue Begin

Delegations from China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan started talks on Korean nuclear issue in Beijing at 9a.m on Wednesday. The ongoing three-day talks, which will last up to Aug.29, are widely seen as an important step towards seeking a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

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Six-party Talks on the Korean Nuclear Issue Begin

Delegations from China, Russia, the United States, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan began the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue in Beijing Wednesday morning.

Delegations from the six countries entered a conference room around nine o'clock at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in western Beijing.

The six delegations took their seats at a hexagonal negotiation table in alphabetic order.

The six-party talks, another multilateral diplomatic endeavor for a peaceful solution of the Korean nuclear issue after the trilateral talks between China, the DPRK and the United States in April in Beijing, are scheduled to last three days.

A source said on condition of anonymity that each of the six nations will express its stand at the first day of the talks.

Heads of the delegations to the talks are Wang Yi, Chinese vice-foreign minister, Kim Yong Il, DPRK deputy foreign minister, JamesKelly, assistant US secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Alexander Losiukov, Russian deputy foreign minister, Lee Soo-Hyuck, ROK deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade, and Mitoji Yabunaka, director-general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry of Japan.

Wang Yi said in his opening speech that the the Beijing six-party talks represent another important step toward the peaceful solution of the Korean nuclear issue.

Wang said the six-party talks are not only the continuation and expansion of the trilateral talks held last April in Beijing, but also a new start, which represent another important step toward peacefully resolving the Korean nuclear issue.

DPRK has made important decisions for the realization of the six-party talks, and the United States and other parties concerned have also made active efforts, he said.

Losiukov: talks sole realistic way

Talks are the sole realistic way to solve the complicated issue on the Korean Peninsular, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losiukov.

According to the website of the Russian Embassy in Beijing, Losiukov, head of the Russian delegation, made the comment while addressing the Beijing six-party talks.

The talks should be the beginning of major substantial bilateral and multilateral talks, noted Losiukov.

He believes that the talks will be fruitful as long as all parties participating have goodwill and a constructive attitude.

"We think that our task in Beijing is to create and enhance mutual trust and an understanding atmosphere on between the North and South Korean Peninsular, which guarantees the security, stability as well as normal political and economic development in Northeast Asia and this fully conforms to Russia's interests," he said.

Losiukov also expressed his "special thanks" to China for its efforts to organize the talks.

ROK spokesman: six-party talks in smooth progress

An information official with the embassy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Beijing said that the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue were proceeding smoothly.

Press official Han Jae-Heuk with the ROK embassy in China was quoting Shin Bong-Kil, spokesman for the ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry. Shin Bong-Kil briefed the ROK journalists on the development of the morning talks.

Before making keynote speeches, representatives of the five delegations excluding China spoke briefly in alphabetic order. Beginning with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), they all expressed gratitude to China for hosting the talks, according to Shin.

The talks stopped for a 20-minute break at 10:10 a.m., and restarted at 10:30 a.m. This time, in reversed alphabetic order, the five delegations delivered keynote speeches one by one, with the United States first. They expressed their basic positions on the issue.

With interpretation time calculated in, the United States took one hour, Russia 20 minutes, the ROK 22 minutes, Japan 26 minutes and the DPRK 50 minutes. The talks halted again at 1:30 p.m.

Shin said the talks would restart at 3:00 p.m., when the Chinese delegation would deliver its keynote speech.

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