Negotiators continued their discussion over the drafting of a joint document Sunday afternoon following a working-level consultation in the morning, according to the press center of the Chinese delegation.

The fourth round of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue has entered into the sixth day, and though no concrete progress has been disclosed, all parties have agreed to work out a joint document to sum up the developments.

Earlier Sunday, Saiki Akitaka, a member of the Japanese delegation, said all the parties would spend Sunday working together on the drafting of the joint document.

The heads of the six delegations to the talks agreed at their meeting Saturday morning that a joint document would be issued to record the results of this round of talks. The Chinese delegation presented a draft at the meeting.

The US delegation, a major participants in the talks, described the draft as representing "a good basis" for "future negotiations and future discussions" and for "final document and final agreement."

As for whether the joint document could come out Sunday, Christopher Hill, US delegation head and US assistant secretary of state, said, "We know it takes time."

Negotiators to the fourth round of the six-party talks were still discussing over the drafting of a joint document by 5:30 p.m. Sunday, said an official with the Chinese delegation.
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During the working-level consultations, the main task on Sunday's agenda, the delegates had "serious discussions" over the drafting of the joint document, he said.
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On Sunday, Song Min-soon, chief negotiator of the South Korea, said it was hard to tell when the ongoing nuclear talks would conclude, but all sides agreed to establish a framework for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2005)