The ongoing fourth round of six-party talks is moving in the right direction, said Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo today when meeting with heads of the six delegations. 

Dai hosted a banquet lunch at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in honor of the chief negotiators on Thursday and said the atmosphere of the talks was "good."

 

"All the delegates come to the talks with a good political will, that is, to make progress in solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue," Dai said. "They have been involved in frank, in-depth and pragmatic discussions on how to realize a nuclear weapon-free Korean Peninsula."

 

Dai said the issues involved are complex and that it is natural that the six sides have differences. "However, the more complicated the work is, the more significant and more valuable it will be if we deal with it properly."

 

He said he hoped all six parties cherish the opportunity provided by the resumed talks and try their best to expand consensus to make new progress.

 

The delegation heads said they are willing to work hard to make the fourth round of talks fruitful.

 

The fourth round moved into its third day today, and delegations from North Korea and the US held one-to-one talks again this morning.

 

There is still no information whatsoever to indicate how long this round will last.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2005)