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China to work for progress in talks

The fourth round of six-party dialogue to begin in Beijing on Tuesday

BEIJING: China will work closely with the other parties and try to make the upcoming new round of six-party talks proceed smoothly and achieve substantive progress, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said here on Thursday.

Spokesman Kong Quan told Xinhua that as a member of the six-party talks and the host nation, China will take a "serious and responsible attitude" and work closely with the other parties in the talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula.

Common aspiration

"We hope the new round of talks would proceed smoothly and achieve progress, and this is also the common aspiration of all parties concerned and the international community," Mr. Kong said.

The fourth round of talks will begin in Beijing next Tuesday, involving China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Russia, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan. According to Mr. Kong, the head of the Chinese delegation will be Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, and the head of the DPRK delegation is Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan. The ROK delegation will be headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, the U.S. delegation by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the Russian delegation by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, and the Japanese delegation by Sasae Kenichiro, director general of the Asia and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

The six parties held three rounds of talks in Beijing more than one year ago, but no substantive progress was made. The new round of talks will begin at 9:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the venue for the previous three rounds, said Mr. Kong.

As for how long the new round of talks will last, Mr. Kong said it will depend on how the talks proceed, and China will "respect the will of all relevant sides."

The specific agenda of the talks is still under discussion, he added. As for whether the six parties could reach agreement on a certain form of written document, the spokesman said, it will be decided after the talks begin. — Xinhua

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