Six parties go further in working group meeting

(xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-17 19:19

SHENYANG -- Envoys to the working group meeting on denuclearization of Korean Peninsula continued discussions Friday on details of disablement.

"The value of today's meeting is full exchange of information, and various parties, especially the DPRK, can study the information and take it back to the capitals," US chief envoy Christopher Hill told reporters when leaving the hotel.

Hill said he will exchange ideas with the US experts and then have bilateral consultations with China and the Republic of Korea (ROK), but no plan with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) yet.

"There was some common understanding that we can further develop," he said.

"It's moving along. The issue comes down to coming up with the precise means to disable the facility, and a precise understanding what the declaration looks like," Hill said.

The two-day meeting held in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, is the second meeting of denuclearization working group aimed at declaring and disabling nuclear facilities of the DPRK.

The six parties held their first plenary session on Thursday afternoon, and the focus remains on details of the disablement and declaration. Experts from six sides continued consultations at Thursday night discussing technical issues.

Japanese chief delegate to the meeting Akio Suda said there's still something unclear in DPRK's statement, and they need further discussion.

ROK chief delegate Chun Yung Woo said the DPRK have expressed their willingness to declaration and disablement, but uncertainties remain. Chun is scheduled to have a bilateral consultation with the Russian side.

Hill said the DPRK should declare not only the Yongbyon nuclear facility, and the declaration should include nuclear programs, facilities and materials.

"There need to be a declaration, so we know what to disable," he said.

The chief delegates to the six-party talks, involving China, DPRK, the United States, ROK, Russia and Japan, agreed in their last meeting in July to hold the meetings of the five working groups in August.

The first meeting of the denuclearization working group was held in Beijing on March 17 and 18 ahead of the sixth round of talks.

The US and the DPRK are expected to meet at the end of August on normalization of bilateral relations, but time and venue are not set yet.



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