Hill arrives for working group talks on nuke issue

Top U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon to participate in the working group talks ahead of a new round six-party talks scheduled to begin next Monday.

"I hope to meet Mr. ElBaradei tomorrow," Hill told reporters at the airport.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hill said ElBaradei's DPRK visit was "obviously a good sign."

"We have to hear what Mr ElBaradei has to say," he added.

Negotiators for the six parties will hold three working group meetings starting on Thursday.

Hill said he will be in the denuclearization working group, northeast Asia security working group and will attend the new round of six-party talks.

During the last round of talks the six parties reached consensus on the initial steps that needed to taken to implement the 2005 joint statement.

The steps included establishing five working groups, which will discuss the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, DPRK-U.S. relations, DPRK-Japan relations, economic and energy resources cooperation, and peace and security of northeast Asia.

Two of the working groups -- DPRK-U.S. relations and DPRK-Japan relations -- already held their first meetings in New York and Hanoi.

"I am looking forward to meeting with the Japanese delegation in the next couple of days," said Hill, adding that he might see the Japanese chief negotiator, Kenichiro Sasae, on Friday.

Hill said he would hold some bilateral meetings with other delegations, including the DPRK, over the weekend.

Hill says he expects the 'Macau issue' regarding financial sanctions would be resolved within the 30 days as had been previously promised.

In the evening, Hill met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and had dinner with the South Korean delegation.

Hill said he and Wu talked about the coming talks and the working groups meetings.

"Again, we come here with a sense that we are making progress. We are looking forward to seeing El Baradei." Hill added.

Hill said he would not preempt on the financial sanction issue before a statement or announcement be released by the U.S. Treasury Department in the next couple of days in Washington.

"I'm happy to talk about that after the announcement." Hill added.

Commenting on the overall situation, Hill said "so far everything seems on track."

Hill said he would have some bilateral meetings and one working group meeting on Thursday and may meet with El Baradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency on early Friday morning.

Source: Xinhua