The fifth round of six-party talks on nuclear issues in the Korean Peninsula opened in Beijing yesterday, with delegations discussing how the talks would proceed.
The main task for this round of talks is "to outline details, ways and procedures to implement the joint statement adopted in September," according to China's chief negotiator.
The task should be fulfilled in line with the principle of "commitment to commitment and action to action," said Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, the head of China's delegation.
In the joint statement, adopted at the fourth round of the six-party talks which ended last September, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea agreed to abandon all of its nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in exchange for energy aid and security guarantees.
Wu suggested the fifth round be carried out in phases, with the six delegations first agreeing on a general scenario and a working group or expert panel working out detailed rules and submitting them to the delegation heads for consultation.
At a press briefing yesterday evening, Chinese delegation spokesman Qin Gang said all delegation heads agreed at the plenary meeting that it would be appropriate to set up working teams or expert panels to implement the joint statement, but more discussions were needed to work out a detailed and operable mechanism.
Qin said given that negotiators still differ on how to implement the joint statement, the Chinese delegation hopes they will adopt a pragmatic, flexible and discreet attitude to find a solution that is acceptable to all.
Meanwhile, South Korea's chief negotiator Song Min-soon said the on-going talks would focus on three topics: the DPRK's abandonment of nuclear weapons, economic and energy aid for the DPRK, and the normalization of bilateral ties between certain countries.
Currently, the US and the DPRK are still divided over when the DPRK should open up to disarmament inspectors and whether in return it would receive compensation including a new light-water nuclear reactor to produce energy.
America says the DPRK should first abandon its nuclear program and create a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
"When the DPRK is back to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons with the IAEA safeguards, at an appropriate time we'll have a discussion about the subject of the provision of light water reactor," US chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters yesterday.