Daniel Glaser, U.S. chief negotiator on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) financial issue, arrived in Beijing Sunday for talks to be held in Beijing.

Glaser, U.S. Treasury Department's deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, said upon arrival at the capital international airport that he hoped to have productive meetings with his DPRK counterparts.

The talks will start on Tuesday afternoon, prior to the resumption of six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue expected to be held early next month, but no information is available on the DPRK delegation's arrival.

The financial sanctions imposed on the DPRK were one of key stumbling blocks that stalled the six-party talks.

After 13 months, the talks restarted in December 2006, during which Glaser and President of the DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank O Kwang Chol held the first DPRK-U.S. consultations on the financial sanctions.

The two sides, after meeting twice, decided to continue the talks this month, but the DPRK later refused in New York.

China encouraged and supported the DPRK and the United States in direct contacts and in creating conditions for the resumption of the six-party talks, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

Earlier this week, chief negotiators for the six-party talks from the United States, the DPRK, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan arrived in Beijing and met individually with Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei.

All sides expressed expectation for an imminent resumption of the six-party talks. They also hoped for progress on implementing a September 2005 joint statement, in which the DPRK agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees.

It is hoped that the nuclear talks will restart before the Chinese Lunar New Year in mid-February.

Source: Xinhua