Parties agree to advance Korean Peninsula nuclear issue talks: FM

BEIJING—The six parties to the talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue agreed to advance the talks to a new stage as soon as possible, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The six parties, namely China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan and Russia, had a discussion in the Chinese capital and agreed to implement the second phase action of the talks early, according to a press release from the Ministry.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei met with heads of other five parties, respectively, namely DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, ROK chief negotiator to the talks Chun Yung Woo, Japan’s chief negotiator Akitaka Saiki, and Russian ambassador to China Sergei Razov.
The six top negotiators all spoke highly of the progress already made in the talks, and believed that it is in the common interests of all parties concerned to promote the process of the talks.
“The parties concerned agreed to make joint efforts to strive for the early implementation of the second phase action of the talks in a comprehensive and balanced way, in a bid to usher the talks into a new stage,” said the release.
No major breakthrough has been made in the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue although some progress was seen during talks between relevant parties, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said here Wednesday.
Hill arrived in China Wednesday morning to exchanging views with other parties to the six-party nuclear talks which was currently stalled on the full declaration of nuclear program of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Hill said he had “good discussions” with his Chinese, Japanese and Republic of Korea (ROK) counterparts after his arrival. “We haven’t yet arranged for all the factors, or the elements, that have to be put together... We have a lot of work ahead of us. I don’t want to suggest there’s been any major breakthrough,” Hill said.
“We definitely make progress. We’re going to try to do more things in a few days,” he said, adding “we don’t have a lot of time.”

—Xinhua