The second phase of the sixth round of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue would recess for two days to wait for the approval for a joint document by the respective governments of the six delegations.
Head of the Chinese delegation to the talks Wu Dawei announced the recess Sunday afternoon in a statement after a meeting of heads of the six delegations, namely China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan.
Wu, vice foreign minister and chairman of the current talks, said the reason for the two-day recess was that a joint document had been drawn out and still needed the approval of the governments of the six delegations.
Efforts would be made to publicize the document as soon as possible, Wu noted.
The current phase of the talks was aimed at making the second phase action plan to implement the September 19 agreement, which includes commitments of the DPRK's declaration of its nuclear programs and disablement of its nuclear facilities and the other parties' aid to the DPRK.
Russian top negotiator Alexander Losyukov said after attending Sunday afternoon's meeting "the statement will include many important issues".
He said, "the joint statement drawn out by all delegations is very comprehensive... It includes the substantive measures to be taken in the following actions."
Since the measures were considered highly important, some delegations would have to report them to their governments, so the statement was not ready to be publicized, Losyukov said.
The Russian side had no disagreement on the statement, he said, adding that the statement should be considered an important fruit of this phase of talks.
U.S. top negotiator Christopher Hill left Beijing at about 3 p.m. Sunday, soon after the delegation heads' meeting.
Hill said at the airport before leaving that the U.S. believed the draft document was well prepared and very specific, and as it included very detailed contents, he had to take it back to the U.S. for further study.
"I'm pretty confident that we know what the next steps will be, and we have an understanding that will take us through to the end of the year with respect to disablement and declaration," Hill told reporters earlier Sunday.
ROK top negotiator Chun Yung-woo revealed that a specific timetable had been set in the joint statement of the obligations of the DPRK to declare its nuclear programs and disable its nuclear facilities before December 31 this year.
An understanding had been also reached on what correspondent actions the other parties should take, though not necessarily set with an timetable in the draft joint document, said Chun.
All parties had shown determination to reach agreement at the talks, and the DPRK particularly "made a considerable concession", Chun stressed.
"All concerned parties know what actions they should accomplish within a certain time," said Chun.
He said the draft joint document, a result of concentrated discussion of the six parties, would mark the beginning of the second phase of the implementation of the September 19 joint statement.
Another official with the ROK delegation said on Sunday afternoon at the condition of anonymity that he believed the disablement of the DPRK's nuclear facilities could be finished within a year, which meant the process of the six-party talks would enter the period of dismantling nuclear facilities in one year.
The major disagreement regarding the draft joint document was which parts were to be publicized and which parts not, the official said.
Japan's top negotiator Kenichiro Sasae said the six parties had basically reached an agreement on the draft joint document.
"Further progress has been made for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in the joint document," said Sasae at hotel Sunday afternoon after meeting the five counterparts.
On the economic and energy assistance to the DPRK and the future orientation of the talks, all delegations have reached an agreement in the document, said Sasae, refusing to reveal more details.
"Meanwhile, all parties have shown the understanding of pushing forward the relations between the DPRK and the United States and Japan," he said.
During the meetings held between Japan and the DPRK, both sides agreed that, despite the difficulty in improving and developing the Japan-DPRK relations, the two countries should conduct frequent and close consultations and carry out sincere dialogues to resolve the unsettled issues with common concerns, including the history and the abduction issues, Sasae said.
Wu Dawei said at his concluding remarks that the current session, which focused on discussing and drawing out an action plan for the second-phase implementation of the February joint statement, was an important one in the whole process of the six-party talks.
The current phase of the talks was scheduled to run from Sept. 27 to 30. The two-day recess has given possibility to the resuming of the talks during one of China's "golden week" holidays, the National Day holiday.
The six parties signed a landmark agreement on Feb. 13 when they finished the fifth round of the six-party talks.
According to the agreement, the DPRK must declare all nuclear programs and disable all existing nuclear facilities, while the other parties must provide a total of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid to the DPRK.
The first phase of the sixth round of talks was held in March, which ended with a chairman's statement.
Source: Xinhua
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