The second round of the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue enters the third day Friday at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in China's capital city of Beijing.  

The talks will start at 9:30 am and consultations at the level of delegation heads and deputy heads will be held from 10:30 am.

There is still no information to indicate how many days the talks, involving China, the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, may last.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the DPRK put forward a proposal of comprehensive stop of nuclear activities at the second plenary session at Thursday's plenary session, and all parties considered the proposal a necessary step for the realization of dismantling nuclear program.

Thursday discussions focused on the first-phase action and corresponding measures for realizing a nuclear-free Korean Peninsular, the ministry said.

Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with delegation heads and related foreign diplomatic envoys to Beijing Thursday afternoon.

Tang said the ongoing six-party talks had entered a pivotal phase of discussing abolishing nuclear programs, safeguarding security and enhancing economic cooperation.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is leading the Chinese delegation, described the discussion on Thursday as "substantial". The differences were gradually narrowing and consensus was growing even though there were still different viewpoints, he said.

The first plenary session of the second round of six-party talks lasted over four hours on Wednesday morning. The discussion was "calm and practical" and the parties reached certain consensus, said Liu Jianchao, member of the Chinese delegation, at a press briefing on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2004)