Resumption of nuclear talks impossible before Jan. 20: S.Korean official

South Korean government has pushed aside any notion of resuming the stalled six-party nuclear talks before US President George W. Bush begins his second term next month, a senior South Korean official was quoted as saying by a local English newspaper on Friday.

The official predicted on Thursday that any form talks within the six-party nuclear framework will not occur before Jan. 20 when the new Bush's administration embarks on its work, according to The Korean Herald.

"And, the chances are extremely slim that North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) will return to the talks before then," the official was quoted as saying.

The official also estimated Pyongyang will wait and see who they have to deal with in the new Bush administration, and assess what may be in store for them before making any decisions on the talks.

"After verifying the new lineup in the United States, North Korea will then decide whether to return to the talks and what to do next," the official said. "And with North Korea in such a position, our government should not act too hastily to push them."

However, the official also expressed confidence over the six-party nuclear talks aimed to solve the two-year-long nuclear issueon the Korean Peninsula.

"We should not pessimistically prejudge the overall resolution to the nuclear issue just because of the stalling of the six-partytalks," the official said. " ...the momentum should not be lost inthe framework... (we should) deal with the issue in a long-term sense ahead of any possible brinkmanship. We should be working toward a peaceful resolution before hitting the breakpoint of brinkmanship."

China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan held three rounds of talks in Beijing, trying to find ways to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue. The scheduled fourth round of the talks have been delayed until now.

Source: Xinhua