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)