Six-party talks close to a joint statement

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Source: CCTV.com | 09-30-2007 08:20

Heads of the delegations to the six-party talks enter the banquet hall in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 29, 2007. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo gave a banquet in honor of the delegation heads of the talks, which involve China, the United States, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, in Beijing on Saturday.(Xinhua Photo)

Late Saturday, China distributed a draft joint statement. This was discussed by envoys from the DPRK, the ROK, Russia, Japan and the US.

Delegates left Saturday's negotiating table with a document to study. As the host of the talks, China circulated the draft of a joint statement.

US envoy Christopher Hill said, "It is a pretty complete draft. We have made some comments,"

Hill said it was too soon to say if the draft would be turned into a joint statement to be released when this round of talks conclude on Sunday.

ROK envoy Chun Yung-woo also declined to reveal the contents of the draft.

ROK envoy Chun Yung-woo,said, "We were considerably closer to an agreement on how the disclosure and disablement should be done. However, how to reflect these things in a written agreement still remains to be done,"

Earlier on Saturday, Hill confirmed an announcement in Washington that the US would pay up to 25 million US dollars for the next shipment of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for the DPRK.

In a February agreement, the delegations at the six-party talks agreed to provide the DPRK 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil.

In return, the DPRK agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor, which it did in July, and then declare and ultimately dismantle all its nuclear programs.

As a break from tough negotiations, China laid on a banquet for the delegates on Saturday evening, hosted by China's Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo.

Editor:Zhang Ning