3rd round of six-party talks generates concept paper on working group

The six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula that ended here Saturday morning issued a concept paper on the working group to the talks, setting the duties and tasks, operational ways, and the size and composition of the working group.

All the parties concerned agreed that the terms of reference and tasks of the Working Group are, under the guidance of the plenary meeting, that the working group shall operate as required by the plenum, and conduct in-depth discussions on the specific issues that have been touched in the plenum so far at the working and technical level, report to the plenum, and make preparations for the plenum.

The paper pointed out that the Working Group should start to operate on the basis of the consensus recorded in Chairman's Statement of the Second Round of Six-Party Talks.

The Working Group should function following four principles, according the paper, which are mutual respect and consultation on an equal footing, in line with the approach of taking coordinated steps, discussions shall be held on relevant issues, what will be reported by the working group to the plenum shall be decided under the principle of consensus, and the proposals based on the working group's discussions shall be submitted to the plenum for further discussions and decision-making.

The operational ways of the Working Group include: working group meetings shall be held when necessary during the recess of or in parallel with the plenum.

In principle, the convener of the working group meeting shall be from the country holding the chairmanship of last plenum.

In principle, the venue of the working group meeting shall be in the country of the convener. And if any party proposes other options, it shall be decided through consultations among the six parties.

The format of the working group meeting can be flexible and varied -- either open or closed, formal or informal.

In the first session of each round of the plenary talks, the convener of the working group shall report to the plenum the developments of the working group meeting; if the meeting is held in parallel with the plenum, the developments shall be reported to the plenum in a timely fashion.

According to the paper, one working group shall be launched so far, but expert groups may be added to the working group or more working groups may be launched in future when necessary.

The native language of the Parties are all working languages, and when the working group meeting is in session, each party shall bring its own interpreters and the host shall provide necessary facilities, said the paper, adding that relevant documents of the working group meeting shall be drafted in English.

Source: Xinhua