The fourth round of the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue will take a two-week recess if all the parties still fail to reach consensus on a joint document on Sunday morning, Russian chief delegate Alexander Alexeyev said in Beijing on Saturday night.

Addressing international media in the Russian embassy in Beijing, Alexeyev said the talks might resume after about two weeks.

The recess does not mean the current round of talks has achieved no progress, he said.

Alexeyev described the current talks as "fruitful," since all sides have reached unprecedented understanding and consensus on many issues, thanks to the excellent organizational work and diplomatic efforts by China, as well as the efforts by the other parties.

He expressed the hope that the recess may help the six parties finally agree to adopt the joint document, and continue the talks for the ultimate goal of realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The six-party talks resumed on July 26 in Beijing after a 13-month impasse. Diplomats from China, North Korea, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan have held over 70 one-on-one meetings.

Piao Jianyi, a professor with the Asia-Pacific Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the fourth round of talks touched substantial issues with unprecedented depth.

"Each party understood the bottom lines of the other sides and saw where the problems are. It helps lay a good foundation for the future talks," Piao said.

"The negotiators also need to report to their governments on the new problems having emerged during the process, and discuss about the countermeasures," he said.

Negotiators from the six parties have been discussing a draft common document over the past eight days, which was proposed by the Chinese side based on the stances of all parties concerned.

Differences remained between North Korea and the United States on whether North Korea should be allowed to use nuclear energy peacefully.

Kim Kye-gwan, the North Korea delegation head, said on Thursday that his country should enjoy the right to the peaceful use of nuclear power.

Kim expressed dissatisfaction with the United States' opposition to North Korea’s peaceful use of nuclear energy. "All countries in the world enjoy the right to make a peaceful use of nuclear power," Kim said.

"North Korea is neither a defeated nation in a war nor a nation having committed any crimes, so why should we not be allowed to use the nuclear power peacefully?"

Jin Linbo, head of the Asia-Pacific Office under the China Research Institute of International Studies, said the North Korea-US disputes over the North Korea’s abandonment of nuclear program actually reflects the two sides' conflicts over the normalization of bilateral ties.

He said North Korea hopes to normalize bilateral ties with the United States with its nuclear dismantlement, but the United States believes that the normalization of relations should be dealt with under a bilateral mechanism and the goal of the six-party talks is to realize a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

"The United States has not yet made up its mind to forge diplomatic ties with North Korea," Jin said.

Meanwhile, the United States reiterated its determination to solve the Korean nuclear issue. The US government is absolutely dedicated to finding a solution to the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, although it is not easy, said Christopher Hill, US chief negotiator.

"We have been here for 13 days. We have really had a dialogue and understanding that we had not had before," Hill said on Saturday night, adding "we tried very hard to reach an agreement and we have great political will to solve the issue."

He noted the US is "very interested" in reaching an agreement and worked very hard with the Chinese and other delegations. What all the parties have tried to do is to reduce differences and to understand with great precision what those differences are, he said.

He stressed the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue "needs to be solved" and "will be solved." "We have options, but one of the options we do not have, is the option of simply walking away."

Hill revealed the Chinese government will have an announcement maybe on Sunday morning.

Information from the Chinese press center said Chinese delegation head Wu Dawei will hold a press briefing after a plenary meeting of all delegation heads on Sunday morning.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2005)