North Korea talks set for next week
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-04 05:49

The fifth round of the Six-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula denuclearization issue will start on November 9 in Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday.

The parties concerned will discuss how to further implement the joint statement reached in the last round of talks in September, said ministry spokesman Kong Quan at a press conference.

China will work with the other countries to make further progress, and will be open-minded on the length of the talks, depending on the actual situation, he said.

Because the chief negotiators of the six parties may also attend the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum to be held in the Republic of Korea (ROK) in mid-November China suggests that the Six-Party Talks be held "in stages," he said.

In the fourth round of talks, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea agreed to give up its nuclear programmes in return for aid and security guarantees from the United States and other countries.

But it demanded a civilian nuclear reactor for power generation before it disarms.

DPRK's leader Kim Jong-il told visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao last weekend that the country would go ahead with the fifth round of talks as scheduled. The first round was held in August 2003 in Beijing

(China Daily 11/04/2005 page1)