The six parties to the Korean Peninsula nuclear talks held a
plenary session this morning with the resumption of multilateral
talks, stressing to resolve the nuclear standoff in line with the
principle of "action-to-action."
The chief negotiators of the six parties made key-note speeches
at the plenary session, and elaborated their respective stance on
implementing the joint statement adopted by all parties during the
fourth round of talks in September 2005, according to the Chinese
Foreign Ministry.
The six delegation heads also put forward relevant proposals and
ideas in their speeches.
Wu Dawei, Chinese chief negotiator and vice foreign minister,
said the September 19 statement gleaned the consensus of all
parties, and was a "political declaration" for the goal of
denuclearization as well as a "guiding document" that should be
observed by all parties.
The topic for the second stage of the fifth-round six-party
talks today focused on how to concretely implement the joint
statement in line with the "action-to-action" principle, he
said.
The other five chief negotiators expressed appreciation for
China's efforts in resuming the talks.
They also reiterated their pledge to fulfill the commitments
made in the September 19 statement, realize denuclearization
through dialogues and peaceful means, and achieve normalization of
diplomatic ties between relevant countries as well as long-lasting
peace in northeast Asia.
The second phase of the fifth-round six-party talks, involving
China, the US, Japan, Russia, North and South Korea, was launched
this morning after a stalemate of 13 months.
Chief negotiators of the six-party talks gathered at the
Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, initiating a new round of
negotiation on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
They agreed that the hard-won six-party talks should be
cherished. The parties should seize opportunities with specific
measures and steps to implement the September 19 statement in line
with the principle of "action-to-action" and the attitude of facing
up to the future.
The six chief negotiators also vowed to strive for "positive
progress" out of the fresh round of talks with "flexible" and
"pragmatic" attitude.
Chun Yung-woo, head of the South Korean delegation and assistant
minister of foreign affairs and trade, told reporters there are
"three common points" among parties concerned during this round of
talks, namely to settle the nuclear issue through peaceful
negotiation, to find out a scheme to implement the September 19
statement, and to achieve "substantial" progress in the talks.
Chun told reporters he would have bilateral consultation with
the US delegation this afternoon.
Launched in 2003, the six-party talks have been held for five
rounds. However, the talks had remained stalled since November 2005
after North Korea walked out of the negotiation in response to US
sanctions.
At the end of last month, chief negotiators of the US, Japan,
North and South Korea came to Beijing to join their Chinese
counterpart in laying the groundwork for resuming the talks.
(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2006)