North Korea and the US held their third one-on-one meeting Thursday morning since they arrived in Beijing for the fourth round of six-party talks aiming to solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. 

Experts say that the unusually high frequency of one-on-one meetings between the two leading roles of the issue shows that the US-North Korea bilateral discussions have come to a "substantial" phase.

"If we can say that in the former two meetings the two sides had put out their attitudes and differences, then in this meeting they should begin a consultation of how to solve their differences," said Jin Canrong, a professor on international politics with the Renmin University of China.

Compared with the former three rounds of talks held in Beijing in 2003 and 2004, both the US and North Korean delegations have shown strong willing of communication in this round of talks.

On July 25, a day before the talks were opened, the two sides met for 75 minutes unexpectedly. The following day they met for the second time, which was described as "long," "good," and "businesslike" by US government officials.

Yesterday's consultation lasted for about three hours.

On the definition of "denuclearization," the North Korean side insisted that the US should clear up its nuclear threats to the North, including its "nuclear umbrella" for South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea is not "fully satisfied" with the proposal the US made in June 2004 and worries about who should take the first step. It is also afraid that North Korea has taken on too much obligation while the other parties will not carry corresponding measures.

While the US put out its last year's proposal again, it admitted that the two sides still have differences, that is, who should take action first. But the US said the two sides have reached consensus on the definition of denuclearization.

Christopher Hill, head of the US delegation, said yesterday afternoon, "We had a lengthy discussion and I must say there are a number of differences."

"On the other hand, on some points we have some common understanding on how to proceed," he said. But he didn't go into details.

"This morning's meeting should focus on the definition of denuclearization and who should take action first," said Fu Mengzi, director of the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Contemporary International Relations.

He said though the two sides have shown flexibility, the distrust between them lasted long and it is not sure they can make progress on reducing the differences.

"Probably the two parties have affirmed the consensus they had reached in order to write them on a joint document that might come out at the conclusion of the talks," said Jin Linbo, head of the Asia-Pacific Office under the China Research Institute of International Studies.

"It should include the US' recognition of North Korea as a nation with sovereignty, and the US has no intention to attack it, and the North's goal to realize a nuclear weapon-free peninsula," he said.

Other delegations of six-party talks also attached great importance to the one-on-one meetings between North Korea and the US.

Japan's chief delegate Kenichiro Sasae said their talks would determine the course of the following negotiations.

Without progress made between the US and North Korea, there won't be an agreement on a joint statement from all sides at the conclusion of the talks, he said.

Russian delegation head Alexander Alexeyev said the meeting between North Korea and the US may influence the result of six-party talks to a large extent.

US government official said on Tuesday afternoon the two sides would hold a fourth meeting Friday.

Qin Gang, spokesperson of the Chinese delegation, said the fact that North Korea and the US continued their meetings marks a progress and also a most important fruit of this round of talks.

The fourth round of six-party talks moved into its third day yesterday. There is still no information to indicate how long the ongoing talks will last.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2005)