The undated photo shows the meeting place of the new round of six-party talks at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

The United States promised not to attack the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as six-party talks on Korean nuclear issue resumed in Beijing yesterday after a 13-month-long impasse.
US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said at the opening session of the fourth round of the talks that the US regards the DPRK as a sovereign state and has no intention to attack it.
He also said that nuclear weapons will not make North Korea more secure. "On the contrary, nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula will only increase tensions in the region and threaten the integrity of the global non-proliferation regime," he said.
Representatives from China, the United States, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Russia have held three previous rounds of talks in Beijing from 2003 to 2004, but failed to solve the Korean nuclear impasse.
Negotiations offer a better chance at peace and security than building bombs, Hill said. "The six-party talks offer a better future for North Korea."
He said that if the DPRK decided to dismantle its nuclear program "permanently, fully, verifiably," the US and other parties at the talks were prepared to take corresponding measures consistent with the principle of words for words and actions for actions.
The head of the DPRK delegation, Kim Kye-gwan, said political will is needed to end the threat of a nuclear war and create a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.
The DPRK is ready for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, he said, adding that his country will work hard with the other five members at the talks to ensure they aren't fruitless.
As the representative for the host country, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged negotiators to take a "flexible and pragmatic" attitude to seek "positive" progress in the new round of negotiations.
A Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons along with long-term peace and stability in the region would serve the interests of all parties concerned, Li said.
Noting there might be various difficulties during the talks, he said, so long as all sides work together there would be success.
"Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind on it," he said, quoting a Chinese saying. "China will continue to work with all sides to realize denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and regional peace and stability."
The South Korean delegation urged all the negotiators to concentrate on the nuclear issue.
"It is not ideal for the parties concerned to distract from this target (of building a nuclear-weapons-free Korean Peninsula) during the new round of the six-party talks," said Song Min-soon, South Korea's delegation head.
However, Japan's chief negotiator Sasae Kenichiro still raised the abduction issue at the opening session, saying outstanding issues of concern such as nuclear missiles and abduction should be resolved in a comprehensive manner.
Negotiators will continue talks today with a plenary session planned for this morning.