The second round of the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear
issue will be held in Beijing on Feb. 25. Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue made the announcement in Beijing
Tuesday.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) made the same
announcement Tuesday, Yonhap News Agency of the Republic of Korea
(ROK) reported.
Yonhap said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) of the DPRK
made the announcement.
"We have decided to hold six-way talks beginning Feb. 25 after
many consultations with the United States and the host, China," the
KCNA said.
"We also made consultations with other concerned countries on
the issue," said the DPRK's official news agency.
The announcement came on the same day when the DPRK and ROK will
kick off high-level inter-Korean talks in Seoul.
It was made two days after James Kelly, US assistant secretary
of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said he was "mildly
optimistic" about the prospect of new talks and that the United
States and other regional players were working closely to realize
them.
The ROK government has not made any response to the KCNA report.
Officials with the ROK presidential office and Ministry of
Unification have refused to give any comment.
(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2004)