All negotiators in six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue arrived in Beijing over the last two days for the fifth round, which is scheduled to start today.
The South Korean delegation arrived on Monday, and the other delegations – Japanese, North Korean, Russian and US – got here yesterday.
Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Japanese delegation, said yesterday that Japan is particularly interested in the implementation of the agreement already reached by all sides, especially the process of denuclearization.
Japan will also express its views on future actions in the talks, he noted.
US chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters upon his arrival that the first step would be to see how agreements and principles can be put into practice.
South Korea's chief negotiator Song Min-soon said on Monday afternoon that the upcoming talks would lay the groundwork for carrying out the first joint statement reached during the last round.
"There will be intensive consultations in this round of the six-party talks," Song told Xinhua News Agency.
China hosted four rounds of six-party talks with the latest one adopting the first joint statement in September this year.
North Korea pledged in the statement to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and return to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, in exchange for energy aid and security guarantees.
The fifth round is expected to discuss how to follow through on the statement.
Kim Gye-gwan, head of the North Korea delegation, said at Pyongyang's Sun-an Airport before departure that "North Korea cherishes the joint statement formed in the previous round. We are willing to make sincere efforts at this round of the talks to fulfill the spirit of the joint statement."
Russia's chief negotiator Alexander Alexeyev said upon arrival in Beijing that Russia will cooperate with North Korea in a bid for a substantial result.
The fifth round of talks is expected to last for three days in its first phase.
(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2005)
