Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to China Kim Ha Joong hopes that countries to the six-party talks will continue to hold "serious and positive" attitude for consultation and strive for consensus on a common document, said Kim in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Beijing Sunday.

The second phase of the fourth round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is to resume on Sept. 13.

He said major difference still remains among relevant countries to the nuclear talks, expressing his hope that countries concerned will demonstrate their willingness to positively settle the problem, and conduct "active and pragmatic" discussion for realizing a common document.

Kim said that during the first phase meeting, countries once again reaffirmed the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) also indicated its will to abandon nuclear weapons program. Other countries expressed their willingness to provide corresponding compensation measures for DPRK.

"What's most important, the fourth draft of a common document China proposed during the first phase meeting has covered matters concerned by all relevant countries," he said, expressing his appreciation for the draft.

The ambassador spoke highly of China's efforts and "constructive role" in promoting concrete progress of the talks. He hopes ROK and China will continue to keep close cooperation in the forthcoming second phase.

As to China-ROK relations, the 58-year-old ambassador said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have achieved lots of progress in political, economic and cultural cooperation as well as personnel exchanges.

Statistics shows the bilateral trade volume increased by 17 times compared with 13 years ago, that is from US$5 billion in 1992 to US$90 billion in 2004.

China has become ROK's largest trading partner and its biggest exporting market, Kim said. By June, 2005, China had actually used ROK investment of 29 billion dollars.

He said the two countries share the same cultural backgrounds and have no political conflicts, which is the reason for the rapid growth of bilateral ties.

In a bid to promote peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, China and ROK always kept close contacts on the six-party talks, he added.

Concerning China's peaceful development, Kim said it is a natural result of China's rapid economic growth.

He believes China's development will contribute to the common prosperity of countries in the region and hopes the two countries in the future will expand exchanges between governments and non-governmental circles so as to push ROK-China relations up to a new high.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2005)