Delegations consult before six-party talks

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Delegations consult before six-party talks

China held consultations with the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) respectively Tuesday morning for the upcoming six-party talks. Meanwhile, the Russian delegation, headed by the Russian Deputy Foreign Finister Alexander Losiukov, also held a consultation with the Japanese delegation at the Russian Embassy to China.

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China held consultations with the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) respectively for the upcoming six-party talks Tuesday morning.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly held a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning, to coordinate efforts in the six-party talks, due to open Wednesday.

The DPRK has been earnest and serious since the very beginning of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, Wang told Xinhua immediately after holding consultations with DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

The DPRK named Kim Kye-gwan as the head of the DPRK delegation to the second round of the talks, replacing the former head of thedelegation to the first round of talks held in Beijing last August.

Wang said the change of the heads of the DPRK delegation had drawn wide attention of the international community, who believe that the DPRK holds an earnest and serious attitude toward the six-party talks.

He said no matter who is the head of the delegation, the DPRK will take a serious and responsible attitude toward the talks.

China earlier announced the name list of the delegation. Besides delegation head Wang Yi, other members are Fu Ying, advisor; Ning Fukui, ambassador in charge of the Korean Peninsula issue; Cui Tiankai, director-general of the Asian Affairs Department; He Yafei, director-general of the North American and Oceanian Affairs Department; Kong Xuanyou, deputy director-generalof the Asian Affairs Department; Fu Cong, deputy director-general of the Arms Control and Disarmament Department; Liu Jianchao, deputy director-general of the Information Department; Zhang Haizhou, counselor of the East European and Central Asian Affairs Department; and Yang Xiyu, director of the Office for Korean Peninsula Issue.

DPRK vows to achieve good results at new talks

Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Tuesday that his country will do its best to achieve "good results" at the upcoming six-party talks in Beijing.

"The circumstance of the talks is better than the previous one, and we hope that we can cooperate closely with China and Russia," Kim said at the Sunan airport before leaving for the Chinese capital at the head of a delegation to attend the talks scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

However, he said, "the talks will be difficult."

The official also said the issue of the abduction of Japanese should not be on the agenda of the talks and he asked the Japanese side not to take "hasty action."

The DPRK had clarified its positions on the issue when a Japanese Foreign Ministry delegation visited his country earlier this month, the official added.

The DPRK admitted at a summit meeting in 2002 that it abducted 13 Japanese in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

"We appreciate the efforts made by the Chinese side. We will do our best to produce good results at the talks," he told Wu Donghe,the Chinese ambassador to the DPRK.

The proposal put forward by the DPRK on the issue accords with US interests, Kim said, noting that if the United States changes its policies, the nuclear issue can be resolved.

Russia, Japan consult in Beijing

Russian and Japanese delegations for the second round of six-party talks met Tuesday. The two sides said after the meeting that they both support the progress of the talks and hope it could fruit in some result, sources said.

Russian and Japanese delegates exchanged views on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue and elaborated their stance on the question during their one-and-half-hour closed-door consultation, said sources with the Russian embassy, which hosted the bilateral meeting.

Russian head of delegation and Vice-Foreign Minister Alexander Losiukov said after the meeting that Russia's stance was basicallythe same with that of China, which was very conducive to promotingthe six-party talks.

Losiukov said Russia and Japan hold common views on some issues,but differences did exist between Russia, the United States, Japan,and ROK. That will not affect the talks, he said.

China, ROK delegations meet for six-party talks

Diplomats of China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) met in Beijing Tuesday to discuss the schedule of the upcoming second round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue, ROK sources said.

Chinese and ROK delegations for the talks discussed the schedule and the ways to resolve some core questions during their 40-minute meeting in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in central Beijing Tuesday afternoon.

The ROK appreciates China's tremendous efforts in resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular, Lee Soo-Hyuck, ROK deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade, was quoted as saying.

Lee told Chinese head of delegation and Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi that the progress of handling the issue was as important as the final result.

The delegations came to Beijing again for the ultimate goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsular, and would make joint efforts to resolve the issue, Lee said.

Wang Yi was quoted by the ROK sources as saying that the communication between China and ROK in both the first and second round of six-party talks was very important.

ROK had played a "positive and constructive" role in the six-party talks and also had a "unique and irreplaceable" role in settling the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular.

S.Korean to table three-step plan at nuke talks

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck left Seoul for Beijing earlier Tuesday to attend the second round six-party nuclear talks with a plan aiming to solve the nuclear issue in his pocket.

Earlier, Lee said in a news conference that he would render a three-step proposal which was made on the basis of the "road map" South Korea proposed at the first round nuclear talks last August.

The three-step plan specifies proposals for a nuclear freeze by Pyongyang and political and economic concessions it would get in return.

According to local media reports, the first phase in Seoul's proposal is Pyongyang declaring abandonment of all nuclear weaponsprograms, and then other participants to the talks promising to provide a security assurance.

The second step is for the DPRK to act quickly to freeze nuclear facilities, to return to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and accept inspections of the United Nation's InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In return, South Korea, Russia and China provide energy and heavy fuel oil.

In the final stage, Pyongyang completes elimination of its nuclear programs and Washington gives a written security assuranceto the DPRK.

Lee said although the plan is not a joint proposal with the United States and Japan, but it has been discussed among the three countries for many times.

And it seemed in Monday's trilateral consultation among South Korea, the United States and Japan, Seoul's proposal acquired understanding from the other two countries.

Kelly showed a positive response to the series of South Korea-proposed conditions to be attached to any offer by Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) of a nuclear freeze.

Kelly's expression was viewed locally as a tiny change from previous US position over the DPRK nuclear issue.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who now is in MiddleEast, said last Sunday in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, that the coming six-party talks priority is to seek common ground between DPRK's claim for a nuclear program freeze and the US demand for "the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement" of the nuclear program.

Along with US and Japan, South Korea also holds the DPRK must scrap nuclear program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible"manner.

And Seoul expressed many times before that only Pyongyang freezes its nuclear activities as its first step toward the ultimate abolition of nuclear program, including the one based on highly-enriched uranium, can compensations be considered.

Besides the three-phase proposals, Seoul also wants to procure "working group" organized by officials of the involving countries to deal with technical issues, thus to make the six-party nuclear talks to become a mechanism.

Seoul's "working group" proposal has been echoed by Russia and the US head delegates to the six-party talks.

And US Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed hope last Friday that the coming six-way talks would lead to more regular contacts among parties concerned.

South Korea wants to play a more active role in the second round nuclear talks, said Ban, adding Lee Soo-hyun will hold bilateral contacts with five other top delegates to the talks.

Seoul hopes the new round talks will bear good result and pave the way for final settlement of the DPRK nuclear issue.

South Korea's goal for the new talks is to try to issue a jointstatement which will contain a DPRK promise to scrap its nuclear weapons program, to set up a technical working group and set a newdate for the next meeting.

By People's Daily Online

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