The envoys of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula
nuclear issue on Friday considered a Chinese draft document to
embark on the first steps towards denuclearization on the Korean
Peninsula.
"The Chinese delegation circulated a draft, but we haven't had
much discussion yet....it's a process starting with discussion and
moving to the written form," said chief US negotiator Christopher
Hill.
"Surely we will have bilateral meetings with all other parties
discussing the draft. It will be a long day," said Hill.
Hill also indicated that the talks would establish "four to six"
working groups to deal with the denuclearization process.
The talks entered the second day Friday, with negotiators
bargaining the draft for a possible deal. The draft was circulated
to the delegates last night.
Reports said the draft agreement proposed stopping within two
months the work of nuclear sites of North Korea, including the
Yongbyon reactor, and supplying Pyongyang with alternative energy
sources.
"The parties will start discussing the draft today," said chief
negotiator from South Korea Chun Yung-woo, saying the draft lays a
"not bad" basis for the nuclear talks.
Chun said the draft is more specific than the broad 2005 joint
statement, but warned it's still hard to say whether the talks will
go ahead successfully.
Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae also implied that there are
still different opinions about the draft.
"China has its views while Japan has its own stance," Sasae told
reporter.
China will coordinate positions advanced by the other parties
and the Japanese side will try its best to help strike a deal based
on the Chinese proposal, said Sasae.
After 48-day recess, the negotiators re-gathered in Beijing,
focusing on the first steps to implement the statement, according
to which North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear program in
exchange for economic aid and security guarantees.
North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan, after arriving in Beijing
Thursday, said "we are prepared to discuss initial denuclearization
steps...We are neither optimistic nor pessimistic because there are
still a lot of problems to be resolved."
China, being a host since the six-party talks began in 2003,
raised its expectation for starting to materialize the joint
statement.
"I hope the meeting will be a good beginning for implementing
the joint statement, and a new starting point in the process of
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," said chief Chinese
negotiator Wu Dawei at the opening ceremony on Thursday.
(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2007)
