China calls for early resumption of six-party talks

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday called on the participating countries of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue to make further efforts and reopen the negotiations at an early date.

Spokesman Kong Quan told a regular press conference that all concerned parties, namely China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, have kept "conducive" and "positive" contacts in recent months.

"We hope that all sides will further their efforts and properly deal with the difficulties and obstacles in the progress in a bid to realize an early resumption of the talks," Kong said.

The first phase of the fifth round of the six-party talks was held in Beijing last November.

Kong conceded that the U.S. financial sanction against the DPRK has become a "new impediment and complicated factor" in the talks.

The United States froze the U.S.-based assets of eight DPRK companies last October, accusing them of proliferating weapons of mass destruction. Pyongyang refused to resume the talks under the US financial sanctions.

Source: Xinhua