The North Korean delegation, the first foreign delegation, arrived in Beijing Friday for the imminent fourth round of six-party talks on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.  

The talks, involving China, the US, Russia, Japan, North and South Korea, are set to begin next Tuesday.

Other four foreign delegations will arrive in the coming days.

The duration of the talks, due to be held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the venue for the previous three rounds, is yet to be decided.

According to sources with the Foreign Ministry, the head of the Chinese delegation will be Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, and the head of the North Korean delegation is Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan.

The South Korean delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, the US delegation by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the Russian delegation by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, and the Japanese delegation by Sasae Kenichiro, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Asia and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.

The six-party talks, aiming to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, had gathered delegates from the afore-mentioned six countries three times in Beijing.

But the multilateral talks have been stalled since September last year when the scheduled fourth round talks failed to be convened. Local observers expect substantial results to come out of the new round of talks. 

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2005)