The two-day negotiations between North Korea and the US are a
"positive sign" of improvement in bilateral relations, Jiang Yu,
spokeswoman for the Chinese delegation to the six-party nuclear
talks, said yesterday.
Jiang made the remarks at a press conference after Wednesday's
meetings. All parties held bilateral talks in the morning, and
there was a meeting of chief delegates in the afternoon.
North Korea and the US continued their discussions on financial
sanctions at the North Korean embassy yesterday morning.
Jiang said this is a "good start," and China hopes they can
resolve the issue through bilateral consultations, bearing in mind
the overall goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
President of North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank, O Kwang Chol,
held three-hour talks with Daniel Glaser, the US Treasury
Department's deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and
financial crimes, at the US embassy Tuesday afternoon.
Chief negotiators from the two sides, Christopher Hill and Kim
Kye-gwan, also held bilateral negotiations.
Jiang said the three days of meetings at this round of talks
were gradually expanding consensus and creating a clearer
focus.
She said all the parties have presented their positions and
concerns, and had close contacts and consultations.
They need to take into consideration each other's concerns and
interests, so as to seek a common interest that they share, Jiang
noted.
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing held a meeting with chief
negotiators of the six parties yesterday afternoon, during which he
said a new consensus has been reached in the talks thanks to all
parties' strenuous efforts.
The fresh consensus included the fact that all parties
reiterated the need to implement the September 19 joint statement
in support of a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue on the
Korean Peninsula through dialogue, and the adherence to a common
target of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
According to the terms of the joint statement adopted during the
fourth round of talks last year, North Korea agreed to abandon its
nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security
guarantees.
Jiang said the question of working groups was still under
discussion.
She told the reporters that the talks would continue on Thursday
and Friday but did not say when they would end.
(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2006)