S.Korean officials cautiously optimistic over second round six-party nuclear talks

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 03, 2004

S.Korean officials cautiously optimistic over second round six-party nuclear talks

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South Korean officials on Tuesday expressed cautious optimism over the second round six-party talks on the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), after Pyongyang announced the talks would be held on Feb.25 in Beijing.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck, who led South Korean team to the first round talks, was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying "It may be difficult to hold big expectations for a breakthrough from the (second round) talks but the position of each party would become clearer."

Lee said that if the parties concerned can agree to form a "working group" during the second round multilateral talks, it would be a "success." The working group of experts can handle more substantial and technical aspects of the issue, he said.

Moreover, South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said the second six-party talks should make more progress than the first session, reported Yonhap.

Jeong made the remarks while meeting with Kim Ryong Song, top delegate of the DPRK team to an inter-Korean ministerial talks. The DPRK delegation arrived here Tuesday afternoon for the four-day 13th Inter-Korean Ministerial Meeting.

Kim, the DPRK's cabinet counselor, said during the meeting that "Our agreement to the six-party talks is a product of our efforts to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully." "It also means that our position is right and just," he added.

The nuclear issue erupted in the fall of 2002 when US officials said that the DPRK officials had admitted to pushing a secret nuclear arms in violation of a 1994 accord with Washington.

Pyongyang has recently offered to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for economic, political and other concessions from the United States. Washington demands that Pyongyang firstly dismantle its nuclear program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible way."

The first round six-party nuclear talks was held in Beijing in last August and it was attended by China, the DPRK, the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

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