6 parties to start drafting common document
By Hu Xiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-30 07:14

The DPRK demands a US non-aggression accord and economic assistance while Washington insists on the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of the DPRK's nuclear programmes.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said after his fourth one-on-one meeting with the DPRK envoy: "Still we have a lot of differences that remain."

"I don't want to suggest for a minute that this is going to be easy," Hill told reporters Friday evening.

Hill declined to speculate on how long the negotiations would run. Scheduled to continue on Saturday for a fifth day, they have already become the longest such talks to date. No timeframe for this round's end has been set, a departure from the previous three rounds that began in 2003, each lasting three days.

"It's not a matter of who goes first; it's a matter of a strategic commitment that the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula is embraced by all," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on PBS television.

"We are prepared to roll up our sleeves and work for as long as necessary to make progress. But so far, the atmosphere has been very good," she said.

Scott McClellan, Press Secretary of the White House, said on Thursday that the United States wants to see progress made towards the goal of a denuclearized peninsula.

The chief of EU's foreign policy, Javier Solana, told reporters that he met with DPRK Foreign Minister Paik Nam Sun on the sidelines of an Asia security forum in Laos, and came away with the impression that Pyongyang is willing to find a solution, Xinhua reported. "I have the impression that the situation may look a little bit more optimistic," Solana said.

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