The United States said on Thursday that it hopes to make speedy progress in the next phase of six-party talks that will be resumed in Beijing on Sept. 13.

"We would urge people to make speedy progress. But we're ready to stay there as long as it takes," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing.

"Ambassador (Christopher) Hill is going to be packing his bags and head to the region in the near future. So what we want to see is progress at this round of talks, and we're ready to stay there as long as it takes to get things done," McCormack said.

The spokesman said that during the last part of the fourth round of six-party talks actually, "they did make some progress in terms of a statement of principles, coming up with a statement of principles."

"There's still work to be done to complete a statement of principles that all parties can agree to," he said.

China announced on Thursday that the second phase of the fourth- round six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is to resume on Sept. 13 in Beijing.

The talks will be open-ended since all the parties concerned need to make full consultations on issues concerning how to realize denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular press conference.

Source: Xinhua