Delegates leave Beijing after six-party talks recess

Chief negotiators to the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue left here on Saturday after the five-day talks ended up with little tangible progress.

"We want to make real progress, so we were a little disappointed," top U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill said prior to his departure at the airport.

He said he will go back to Washington to prepare for the next round. As for when the session will resume, he said he hopes to come back at an early date.

The negotiator said he hopes the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) delegation can make some decisions after going back to their capital.

The DPRK's chief negotiator and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan did not make comments at the Beijing international airport before leaving for Pyongyang.

Top Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae and top negotiator of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Chun Yung Woo also left Beijing on Saturday morning.

Chun reiterated at the airport that it is still necessary for the six-party talks to go onward.

The six-party talks, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the ROK, Japan and Russia, recessed on Friday afternoon after issuing a chairman's statement.

"The six parties agreed to recess to report to capitals and to reconvene at the earliest opportunity," the statement said.

Source: Xinhua