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A political and peaceful resolution of the Korean nuclear issue requires the United States to open bilateral and direct dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a Foreign Ministry Spokesman said in Beijing Tuesday.
Kong Quan said the Agreed Framework reached by the US and the DPRK in 1994 had "taken some effect" and both sides should "make the first move" toward dialogue on equal footing and launch bilateral direct dialogue as soon as possible.
In response to the US proposal to build up a multilateral framework to handle the issue, Kong said an initial consensus should be reached. If any of the relevant parties have differences, the framework could never be established, he added.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said during his latest visit to China that the US firmly believed that the issue was a "multilateral" issue and that "it's China's matter, Japan's matter, Russia's matter, the matter of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and also the US's matter."
The US should "listen more to different voices" on this issue, Kong said.
China's position on the issue remains unchanged, the spokesman noted, and all the relevant parties should work hard to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsular, support the non-nuclearization on the peninsular and solve the problem by political and diplomatic means.
(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2003)
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