Delegations arrive for six-party talks
( 2003-08-26 06:40) (China Daily)
Four delegations from Russia, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan and the United States, arrived in Beijing yesterday for the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue, which are scheduled to open tomorrow.
James Kelly (R), U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs walks into the lobby of Beijing International Hotel with other members of his delegation August 25, 2003. [newsphoto.com.cn] |
The delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is expected to arrive today for the talks.
The three-day talks which are scheduled to be held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, are widely seen as an important step towards a peaceful solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, following on the "Beijing Talks'' in April.
Beijing hosted initial talks with Washington and Pyongyang in April, but no details were given out by the participants.
The heads of the delegations to the talks are Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Kim Yong-il, DPRK deputy foreign minister, James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the United States, Alexander Losiukov, Russian deputy foreign minister, Lee Soo-hyuck, ROK deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade, and Mitoji Yabunaka, director-general for the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of Japan's Foreign Ministry.
Some 500 reporters, from home and abroad, have applied to the Chinese Foreign Ministry to cover the talks, sources said.
For the talks, a news centre set up by host country China will go into operation today in the Beijing International Hotel on Chang'an Avenue in downtown Beijing.
The centre consists of working rooms and a hall with a capacity of 200 people for news briefings, Foreign Ministry sources said, adding that it will provide Internet, fax and copy services for the journalists.
Press officials or delegates of the participating parties will be invited to the news centre to give information about the talks, the sources said.
But the schedule for news briefings depends on the situation of the talks, sources said.
Japan and the ROK have respectively set up an exclusive news room for their reporters, sources said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Losiukov said yesterday morning at the Beijing airport that he is "discreetly optimistic'' about the upcoming talks.
"We will strive to propel the talks to go on,'' said Losiukov.
The talks follow a flurry of diplomatic activities to restart talks on the nuclear standoff, which erupted in October after US officials claimed Pyongyang had admitted to reviving a programme to produce atomic weapons.
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