The US said yesterday that the six-party talks that began in Beijing marked a good start and it set no end date for this round of talks.

"The six-party talks started today in Beijing, and I would say that we had good discussions, it was a good start," State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack said at a news briefing.

"We are laying the groundwork to make some progress in these discussions. But we have not set an end date for this round of six-party talks…. I think that you are seeing a seriousness of purpose on our part, and we detect that as well from the other members of the six-party talks," McCormack said.

The US has stressed that it wants to make progress in the new round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

The six-party talks were resumed in Beijing yesterday after more than one year of delay.

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2005)