The fourth round of six-party talks, originally scheduled for last September, opened in Beijing Tuesday morning. According to previous reports and speeches made by each side at the opening session, stances of all six parties on the nuclear issue are as follows:  

China

l         Holds that peaceful settlement of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue through dialogue concerns the peace and stability of Korean Peninsula as well as Northeast Asia.

l         Realizing the denuclearization of Korean Peninsula and maintaining long-term regional peace and stability are in the interests of all parties and adhering to the process of peaceful dialogues is the sole correct choice.

l         Aims to have a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, maintain peace and stability on the peninsula, resolve questions peacefully through dialogue and address reasonable concerns of parties concerned.

l         As a member of the six-party talks and the host nation, China will take a serious and responsible attitude and work closely with the other parties in the talks to push forward the talks and achieve substantial progress.

North Korea

l         The US should respect North Korea's sovereignty and normalize political and economic relations with it, by delabeling the North as "a supporter of terrorism," lifting sanctions against it and maintaining peaceful coexistence with it on a legal basis.

l         The US should offer a "definite assurance" of non-aggression against North Korea and not to disturb its economic cooperation with other countries.

l         The US' unilateral demand that North Korea abandon nuclear program will never be accepted. The US should approach the fourth round of six-party talks with a sincere and sound stance.

l         It is North Korea's persistent attitude to realize the denuclearization of Korean Peninsula through dialogue and consultation. Not a single nuclear weapon for self-defense will be needed if the US nuclear threat is removed and its hostile policy of "bringing down North Korea's system" is withdrawn.

l         It needs political will and strategic resolution of all the parties concerned to wipe out all the threats of a nuclear war on Korean Peninsula and to realize a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula. The North Korean delegation promises that it has got ready for that goal.

l         Opposed to Japan to put forward other issues concerned with human rights, abduction and missile during the talks.

The US

l         Recognizes that North Korea is a sovereign state, has no intention to attack or invade it, and is willing to have direct talks with it within the framework of six-party talks.

l         North Korea should make a strategic decision to abandon its nuclear program.

l         The US will repeat its proposal raised in the last round of talks. In the proposal, North Korea would be given a three-month preparatory period to provide a full listing of its nuclear activities, disable some dangerous materials and allow monitoring. The proposal also set ways to solve the security concerns of North Korea, and under the proposal, issues like lifting sanctions against the North and dealing with its energy needs would be covered.

l         Nuclear weapons will not make North Korea safer. If it makes the decision to give up all its nuclear programs, the other five parties will make relevant responses in the principle of word-to-word and action-to-action. The parties concerned are well prepared to settle North Korea's security concern and its energy needs.

South Korea

l         Adheres to three principles on the nuclear issue, including never accepting North Korea to own nuclear weapons, peacefully solving the nuclear issue through dialogue, and playing a leading role in solving the nuclear issue.

l         If North Korea agrees to give up its nuclear program, South Korea is willing to provide 2 million kilowatt-hour of electricity annually to it by building cross inter-Korean border power line.

l         South Korea hoped the North would give up its nuclear program, and the other countries concerned would make definite promises to realize the normalization of bilateral relations with North Korea and provide security guarantee to it.

Russia

l         Keeping on pressuring on North Korea is not right, and the emergent provision of food and energy assistance should be realized by practical approaches in the relevant mechanism.

l         Adheres to a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula.

l         The "package solution" to the nuclear issue Russia proposed has not lost its feasibility, and Russia is willing to revise it if necessary. The package solution refers to creating a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula and providing security guarantee for every country in the region, including North Korea.

l         Agrees in principle to provide North Korea with energy aid, but the overall plan has not be finished.

Japan

l         North Korea should completely abandon all of its nuclear programs.

l         Japan seeks a package solution to the nuclear issue, missile issue and abduction issue all together. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed hope that Japan will be able to normalize relations with North Korea within his term that will end in September 2006.

l         To resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is a precondition for Japan to normalize its relationship with North Korea. Other preconditions include settlement of missile and abduction issues.

l         North Korea confessed in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and the 1980s to use them as language instructors for spies. The North Korean side said among the 13 Japanese citizens, five were alive, and eight others had died of illness or in accidents. However, Japan is skeptical of the North's explanations about the eight dead, urging it to show evidence to support its claim.

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2005)