Six parties keep contacts on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue

Concerned parties will keep contacts on Thursday when the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue enters the third day.

US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said Thursday morning that the US delegation will hold one-on-one meetings with delegations of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan, respectively, during the day.

China held consultations on Wednesday with Russia and the United States separately; the DPRK with the United States and Japan; the Republic of Korea (ROK) with Russia and Japan, and Russia with Japan and the United States, Chinese delegation spokesman Liu Jianchao said Wednesday.

They discussed important issues involved in the second phase of the fourth-round talks while enunciating their positions and setting forth their suggestions and ideas on how to narrow differences, Liu said.

Hill said Wednesday evening that the first meeting with the DPRK delegation "did not make a lot of progress," adding that the DPRK demanded a light water reactor which is not included in the draft common document.

Hill said on Thursday morning when leaving the hotel that he had "much patience" and hoped for "a better day."

ROK chief negotiator Song Min-soon on Wednesday pointed out that the DPRK's demand for a light-water reactor and the scope of nuclear dismantlement remain the two crucial differences in the current phase of the six-party talks.

Source: Xinhua