Chief US negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill on
Friday again urged North Korea to be "serious" on
denuclearization.
Hill told reporters before leaving the hotel that he is "not
aware" of "any sign" of breakthrough in the current six-party
talks.
He said he will have bilateral consultation with the Chinese
delegation at 9:15 Friday morning.
"Today is the last day of the talks," Hill said, adding he is
scheduled to leave Beijing on Saturday morning.
Asked whether another round of talks will be held in the future,
Hill said "we will see the progress, and see whether it is
valuable."
"Our purpose is the denuclearization. We'll have to evaluate
this round in terms of whether we move towards the goal," Hill
said.
The US and North Korean delegations met for several times on
Thursday, and they are scheduled to hold another one-on-one meeting
on Friday.
Late last evening, Hill told reporters that Thursday was a "long
and difficult day". He urged? North Korea to engage in
discussions on the denuclearization and implementation of the joint
statement struck in September 2005, but not on financial
issues.
Before leaving hotel on Friday morning, Chun Yung Woo, top
negotiator of South Korea, said whether Friday's talks could
achieve any "meaningful" progress relies on what stand North Korea
comes up with.
The second phase of the talks moved on to the fifth day on
Friday. According to the press center of the talks, the Chinese
delegation will hold bilateral talks with the other five parties,
respectively. A meeting of six chief negotiators is scheduled to be
held on Friday afternoon.
The ongoing talks focus on the implementation of the joint
statement, under which the North Korea agreed to abandon its
nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security
guarantees.
(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2006)