Six-party talks last "at least till Friday", ROK chief negotiator

The current phase of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue will last at least till Friday, said chief negotiator of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Song Min-soon in Beijing Tuesday evening.

The six parties, involving China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, held their first chief negotiators' meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse here Tuesday afternoon.

The meeting was chaired by Chinese delegation head Wu Dawei. Parties held bilateral consultations before the chief negotiators' meeting.

Song said the talks will last at least till Friday, and then parties will determine the closing date according to progress of the talks.

Liu Jianchao, spokesman of the Chinese delegation, said the talks will hold "substantial discussion" from Wednesday. The same as the first phase meeting, the current phase also have various forms of discussions such as bilateral and multilateral consultation, chief negotiators' meeting, group meeting and working group consultation.

Liu said the duration of the talks is yet to be decided, adding it "will not last too long".

Alexander Alexeyev, head of the Russian delegation, said all the parties expect the talks will end at an early date, saying they hold "prudent optimistic" attitude towards progress of the talks.

US chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters upon arrival that the closing date of the talks can only be decided through discussion.

According to Liu Jianchao, heads of six delegations did not touch upon any substantial issues in their meeting this afternoon. However, all of them demonstrated strong desire for the signing of a common document on the basis of the draft proposed by China in the first-phase talks.

Chief negotiators agreed to make utmost efforts to push forward the negotiation process, Liu said.

Source: Xinhua