Senior CPC official: DPRK promises to attend six-party talks "as schduled"

A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said in Beijing Sunday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRKP) has promised to attend the fifth round of six-party talks "as scheduled", but no fixed date has yet been set.

Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, told press that the DPRK leader Kim Jong Il had told Chinese President Hu Jintao during their talks in Pyongyang that the DPRK would attend the fifth round of the six-party talks "as scheduled".

The new round of six-party talks, which involves China, DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, was scheduled to be held in Beijing in early November, according to a Joint Statement reached by the parties in their previous talks in Beijing in September.

Asked whether Hu's visit has helped fix a date for the new round of talks, Wang said as the DPRK leader had promised that he would honour the commitment, "it was not of particularly meaning to talk about a date".

"From what I have observed from the meetings of the leaders and their attitudes, we have reason to believe that the meeting will be held as scheduled and will achieve positive results with all parties' efforts," said Wang, who accompanied Hu throughout his Pyongyang visit.

Hu, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, started his visit on Friday at the invitation of Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK's National Defense Commission.

Hu and Kim had held "frank" and "in-depth" talks on many issues including the Korean nuclear issue, Wang said.

Hu takes the opportunity to reiterate China's stance on the issue, stressing that China would stick to the objective of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and the direction of resolving problems through peaceful dialogues so as to safeguard peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, Wang said.

Hu expressed that China will work together with the DPRK and all other parties concerned to implement the general objective stated in the Joint Statement and help achieve new progress in the fifth round of the six-party talks, Wang said.

He said Kim highly appreciated China's positive stance on dedicating to promoting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and its major contributions to this effect.

Kim also said that the DPRK sticks to its stance on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and its position of peacefully resolving the nuclear issue through dialogue, according to Wang.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, said Sunday on another occasion that all the parties concerned are currently discussing for a specific date for the fifth round of talks.

"All the parties will hold consultations on the implementation of all principles and agreements stated in the Joint Statement reached at the fourth round of the talks," Wu said.

"The Chinese side has kept close contacts with the five other parties," he told the press on the sidelines of the Joint Study Convention on East Asia Cooperation.

China hosted the previous four rounds of the talks, which were held since 2003. The joint Statement reached at the previous round of talks was regarded as a substantial progress to break the impasse of the Korean nuclear issue.

Source: Xinhua