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China: Top negotiators meet for new round of nuclear discussions (North Korea, DPRK, Six-party talks)

Negotiators of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue met here on Thursday afternoon for a fresh round of discussions after a nine-month stalemate.

The meeting, held at the Diaoyutai State Guest House, focused on steps and measures to realize the second phase of the action plan in a comprehensive and balanced way.

This meeting is a power station for the comprehensive implementation of second phase of the action plan, as well as a turning point for the six-party talks to go into a new phase," Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei said at the opening ceremony of a plenary session.

He said China, as the host of the talks, would like to enhance communication and coordination with the other parties to make constructive contribution.

The negotiators agreed at the meeting that the talks had scored new achievements since October, a good momentum that should be maintained with efforts of all parties.

The talks had entered a key phase, and tasks like setting up verification and inspection mechanism, realizing commitment of economic and energy aid, advancing the normalization of relationships between concerned countries remained difficult and delicate, they said.

The negotiators called for joint efforts from all sides to abide by the principle of "action for action" and strengthen communication to achieve substantial results.

The current discussions came after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) handed over the long-awaited nuclear declaration list late June and then blew up a cooling tower in its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.

Before the opening ceremony, Wu introduced his new counterparts to the press.

The new chief envoys include Kim Sook, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry of the Republic of Korea (ROK), AkitakaSaiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of Japan, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin.

"All sides are meeting for the same goal, and the terminal is to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and normalization of relations between relevant countries, as well as to construct the peace and security mechanism in northeast Asia," Wu said.

The talks, which group China, the United States, DPRK, ROK, Russia and Japan, are scheduled to run for three days in the Chinese capital.

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