Six-party talks to be held Feb. 25 ( 2004-02-03 14:30) (Agencies)
China will host a second round of six-nation talks on the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea(DPRK)'s nuclear program on Feb. 25, said the Chinese
Foreign Ministry Tuesday.
All sides decided that conditions are right to hold talks now and that all
should ``exert sincerity and flexibility,'' said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Zhang Qiyue.
She said China hoped the standoff would be resolved ``peacefully through
dialogue.''
The announcement came after months of negotiations and diplomatic lobbying
among the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas. It is the
latest sign of progress in more than a year of efforts to resolve dispute
between DPRK and the United States.
``The date was decided on the basis of consultations among the various
parties,'' Zhang said. She said details of the agenda were still being
discussed.
Zhang's announcement came hours after DPRK's official news
agency, KCNA, said the country had agreed to six-nation talks on its nuclear
weapons development starting February 25.
A first round of talks between the United States, the two Koreas, China,
Japan and Russia was held in August in Beijing, but ended with little progress
and no date to resume talks.
"Regarding the next round of six-nation talks, the primary countries involved
in the talks ... have held several rounds of consultations and agreed to hold
six-nation talks beginning February 25," Yonhap quoted the North radio stations
as reporting.
Neither KCNA nor Zhang said how long this month's meeting would last. The
previous round, held in Beijing in August, ran three
days.
The announcement came ahead of inter-Korean talks in Seoul
this week. The talks are aimed at promoting reconciliation between the two
sides, but the nuclear crisis has overshadowed similar Cabinet-level talks in
the past.
The nuclear dispute flared in October 2002 when US officials accused DPRK of
running a uranium program in violation of a 1994 deal.
Washington and Pyongyang had disagreed on ground rules for resuming
six-nation talks.
DPRK has insisted it needs a nuclear "deterrent" against a possible US
attack. But it says it will suspend its nuclear programs as a first step in
talks if Washington lifts sanctions against the North, resumes oil shipments,
and removes the North from its list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
The United States says DPRK must first verifiably begin dismantling its
nuclear programs before receiving any concessions. U.S. officials believe the
North already has one or two nuclear bombs and could make several more within
months.
US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly had met Monday with South Korea's
Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon before
leaving for Tokyo.
"We very much hope that the six-party talks can resume before much longer,"
said Kelly.
Stepping up the diplomatic push, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard
Armitage already was in Japan and expressed optimism Monday that the talks would
resume soon.
Meanwhile, the team of Australian diplomats returned from the
North capital Pyongyang after talks with its Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong
Il and other officials.
"I had some very useful talks in Pyongyang," said Murray McLean, leader of
the five-member Australian delegation, upon arriving at Beijing's Capital
Airport. "We presented Australia's strong points of view on the nuclear issue."
He said he met with Kim "for extensive talks" but declined to elaborate,
saying he first had to report to his own foreign minister.
Kelly and Ban reaffirmed the US position on dismantling Monday, adding that
it must be done in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" manner, South
Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil as
saying.
