All the six parties involved in the talks pertaining to the
Korean Peninsula nuclear issue have held "substantial discussions"
for the solution to the issue at the talks' second-day
session.??
Cho Tae-yong, deputy delegation head of the Republic of Korea
(ROK) to the talks, gave the remark at a press conference in
Beijing Thursday afternoon.
Through discussions, he said, all relevant parties have become
aware that significant differences remain between the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States, but there
is also the common ground.
Cho, also director-general of the ROK Foreign Ministry's task
force on the DPRK nuclear issue, held that the delegations to the
talks should take substantial consultations as a starting point to
press ahead toward the solution to the issue.
At the plenary session Thursday morning, the delegation heads of
Japan and Russia enunciated their respective stances on the
resolution of the issue and had an exchange of views concerning the
proposals offered by the DPRK, the US and the ROK on Wednesday,
while the US delegation voiced its opinions on the program of
"freezing for compensation" set forth by the DPRK delegation and on
the ROK delegation's proposal, according to Cho.
The DPRK and US delegations had bilateral talks for two hours
and ten minutes in the afternoon, Cho said, and the ROK and Chinese
delegations also held bilateral talks during the day.
The third round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula
nuclear issue, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the
ROK, Russia and Japan, is being held from Wednesday to
Saturday.
The talks are scheduled to start the third-day plenary session
at 9:30 am Friday.
(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2004)