The fourth round of the six-party talks on the Korean peninsula nuclear issue are nearing the end and will continue on Monday, Chinese delegation spokesman said in Beijing on Sunday.

 

Japanese chief negotiator Kenichiro Sasae said Sunday afternoon when returning to hotel, "So far there is still a possibility of reaching an agreement."

 

The six chief negotiators exchanged views over the draft of a common document at the two meetings of delegation heads earlier Sunday, said spokesman Liu Jianchao.

 

"The talks are nearing the end and will continue on Monday," said Liu, without giving a timetable for Monday.

 

The six delegations had been supposed to have a plenary session Sunday morning, which, however, was replaced by a meeting of delegation heads due to unknown reason. The talks had no schedule on Sunday afternoon.

 

US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said Sunday morning the differences over the wording of the draft between the delegations remained.

 

"The issue is how we express the elements in the text," said Hill Sunday morning when leaving hotel, adding that the US delegation prefers a less ambiguous text.

 

"But we are trying to work with it, and we are really trying to reach something with it. We are setting principles, but being in general principles doesn't mean you create ambiguities and lead the way to confusion and lead the way to problems in the future," Hill said Saturday night when returning to the hotel.

 

China set forth a new draft common document on Friday, which involves North Korea's right to civilian nuclear programs and a light-water reactor, said Russian negotiator Alexander Alexeyev Friday.

 

If passed, the document will be the first of its kind since six-party talks was launched in 2003.

 

"The draft common document China presented is the most realistic scenario for the parties to reach an accord, an excelled piece of work all the parties created," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo told the chief delegates Saturday evening.

 

North Korrea maintained firm stance on its demand for a light-water reactor Friday, saying Pyongyang could accept joint management and inspection after a light-water reactor is built.

 

"In order to establish mutual trust and consider the US concerns, we can accept joint management and inspection after a new light-water reactor is built. This demand is not unreasonable," said the North Korea delegation spokesman Hyon Hak-bong Friday.

 

Hyon said the DPRK will continue to pursue peaceful nuclear programs in its own way no matter whether the United States would provide the country with a light-water reactor.

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned that Washington would not depend wholly on the talks to resolve the Korean nuclear issue and is taking measures to prevent proliferation.

 

"We're not sitting still, you know, we're working on anti-proliferation measures that help to protect us," Rice said in an interview of New York Post on Thursday. "We are not wholly dependent on negotiations to get this done," according to a transcript released by the US State Department.

 

The fourth-round talks, involving China, North Korea, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan, resumed Tuesday after five weeks of recess.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2005)