Top US negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill said the chief
delegates meeting would end today with a chairman statement to be released in
the afternoon.
The statement will "preview the overall time frame" of completing the
implementation of second phase, Hill told reporters before leaving a hotel in
downtown Beijing for the second day's talk.
However, the date for next round's full six-party meeting won't be set on
today's meeting, according to Hill.
"We'll have a lot of bilateral meetings today, and I'll also meet senior
officials of the Chinese Foreign Ministry," Hill said.
He said chief negotiators would have discussions on starting the working
groups.
"We should rely on them because there are a lot of technical issues to be
resolved," He said, adding that it's really important to get the working groups
going.
Thursday's discussions will also cover what nuclear facilities should be
included in the declaration of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Hill said the US was willing to do part of the heavy oil supply to the DPRK,
however, "we need the working groups to work out details of the heavy oil
equivalent."
He said that the US also "has an open mind to the matter" of providing
additional economic aid for the DPRK.
Hill also urged Japan and the DPRK to hold bilateral meetings to discuss
their concerns.
"The quicker they get together to discuss the issue, the better," He said.