An official from the Japanese delegation to the six-party talks on nuclear issue on Korean Peninsula said in Beijing Friday that the six-party talks have initiated substantial discussions.

According to the official at a Japan-hosted press conference, Mitoji Yabunaka, head of the Japanese delegation, said in his Friday meeting with Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan that the various concerned parties have proposed concrete plans and the relevant delegations have had substantial discussions based on the plans.

The Japanese side thinks the concerned parties should continue their efforts based on the plans and Japan is willing to contribute to the peaceful solution of the nuclear issue on Korean Peninsula, the official said.

The official also revealed that heads of the delegations to the talks held consultations at various levels on key issues, and exchanged views, based on their respective plans, on the method, target, timetable, inspection approaches, the future development of the six-party-talks mechanism and tasks of the working group meeting in the first stage when Democratic People's Republic of Korea abandons its nuclear program.

Yabunaka, who is also director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, reiterated that setting the sphere of the nuclear weapon freezing project is of most priority for making the project a meaningful approach.

The official said generating a joint statement that contains common consensus reached in the talks bears positive meanings.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2004)