The first day of the second round of six-party talks on the
Korean nuclear issue have seen "certain consensus" reached among
delegations, although disparities remain.?
The talks, participated by China, the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea
(ROK), Russia and Japan, opened at 9:00 am Wednesday in Beijing's
Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the same venue hosted the first round
of the talks last August.
Liu Jianchao, deputy director-general of the Chinese Foreign
Ministry Information Department, described the atmosphere of the
first-day session talks as "calm and down-to-earth".
In their opening remarks, heads of the delegations expounded
their respective positions on resolving the nuclear issue.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the six parties'
gathering in Beijing represented the strong political aspiration
for peace of the governments of the six nations.
"We come to the talks to expand our common ground, not to
highlight our differences; to settle problems, not to escalate
conflict," Wang said.
Kim Kye-gwan, deputy foreign minister of the DPRK, said the
second round of talks is an important opportunity to decide the
direction of the six-party talks and the DPRK will insist on
principles, exercise flexibility and cooperate well.
James Kelly, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs, crediting the talks as a reliable channel to solve
the nuclear issue, promised that the US side will be devoted to
resolving the issue through diplomatic means and hopes the talks
can achieve concrete progress to lay foundation for further
process.
Lee Soo-hyuck, ROK's deputy foreign minister, Mitoji Yabunaka,
director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the
Japanese Foreign Ministry, and Alexander Losiukov, Russian deputy
foreign minister, all expressed hopes that the parties will further
expand common ground with sincere attitudes and the talks will
yield positive results.
During the four-and-a-half-hour morning meeting, all sides
agreed that a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula is in the interest of
all nations involved and conducive to peace, stability and
prosperity in Northeast Asia, according to Liu Jianchao.
Liu said the parties have all agreed to seek a peaceful solution
to the Korean nuclear issue, and decided that no matter how
difficult the talks could be, the process should continue.
Besides, all sides agreed to take coordinated steps to resolve
the nuclear issue and address the concerns of relevant sides,
sharing the view that actions are the most effective way for
building trust.
Experts maintained that the six parties' opening remarks
displayed their flexibility and patience in solving the nuclear
issue.
"Although the DPRK and the United States still have differences,
they have expressed their strong will for a fruitful result,"
observed Shen Jiru, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences.
Wednesday afternoon, the DPRK and the United States held their
first bilateral meeting of the second talks.
The talks have drawn worldwide attention. More than 30
journalists from major Chinese and foreign media were allowed into
the guesthouse, and outside its east gate, another 100-strong
reporters waited long hours in the cold wind.
The talks will resume Thursday, according to official
sources.
First day 'important beginning' of six-party talks
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Beijing Wednesday that
the discussions and various forms of contacts during the first day
of the six-party talks marked "an important beginning" for seeking
a solution.
Li made the remarks at a banquet he hosted for the delegates of
the six-party talks, which started on Wednesday morning.
The six parties firstly held a plenary session of the second
round of Beijing talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue.
Li said all sides showed willingness and a flexible attitude for
resolving the issues. They released certain active information and
expressed ideas and proposals for tackling the problem, adding that
there are a number of common points in the discussion, Li said.
He admitted that there are still differences on the stances of
different sides, including "some relatively large differences."
All these demonstrated that the solution to the nuclear issue
requires a process to narrow the gap between different sides, he
said.
He hoped all sides would not avoid differences in discussions in
the coming days. All sides, however, "should not allow differences
to impede the process of the dialogues, even divert the direction
of seeking political solution to the problem", he said.
Only if all sides maintain reason and patience and show
political wisdom and flexibility with mutual compromise, can the
differences be reduced and consensus be reached, Li said.
In such a way, the concrete goals and framework can be set for
resolving the issue, the minister said.
He hoped the second round of talks would bear concrete results
because such an end "is in the interests of all sides and complies
with the aspiration of the international community," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2004)