U.S. top negotiator Christopher Hill said Monday in Beijing that the United States hopes to make some progress on the denuclearization working group meeting of the six-party talks.
The meeting is scheduled on Thursday and Friday in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, focusing on measures to facilitate the denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
"It's important to have successful working group meetings," Hill told reporters at the doorway of his hotel. He flew to the Chinese capital Monday afternoon and met with his counterpart Kim Kye-Gwan of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) immediately upon his arrival.
Hill described the atmosphere of his discussion with Kim Kye-Gwan as "pretty good". "We had most of our conversation on denuclearization and working groups," Hill said, adding they had tentatively agreed to meet again in late August to discuss the U.S.-DPRK relations.
"The DPRK side gave us sort of preview on disablement," he said, adding there is no big difference between the preview of the United States and the DPRK on disablement.
According to Hill, the working group meeting will address technical issues involved in the disablement and declaration of DPRK's nuclear programs.
"We need to figure out sequence of those actions," Hill said, referring to the declaration of nuclear facilities, denuclearization as well as energy and economic assistance.
The Shenyang meeting is also part of the efforts to pave the way for the second session of the six-party talks in early September and a ministerial meeting afterwards.
"We don't have enough time in a two-day six-party meeting... so we really need to be sure these issues are pretty well teed up before that," Hill said.
He hoped the declaration would come fairly early, followed by the disablement plan.
With regard to the working group of normalization of U.S.-DPRK relations, Hill said that is "more comprehensive" meeting that will address issues related to the development of bilateral relations, and he had to exchange views with the DPRK side to set down issues to be discussed.
Hill is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei and Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei in Beijing on Tuesday. He said he would have some bilateral consultations with parties concerned ahead of the working group meeting.
The Shengyang meeting comes days after the working group meeting of economy and energy cooperation held at the truce village of Panmunjom from August 7 to 8.
The chief delegates to the six-party talks agreed in their last meeting in July to hold the meetings of the five working groups in August.
The six-party talks, initiated in 2003, include China, DPRK, the United States, Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan.
Source: Xinhua
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