A series of bilateral consultations began in Beijing yesterday as negotiators at the nuclear disarmament talks seek agreement on a joint statement outlining the basic principles of any deal.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill held a one-on-one meeting with the head of North Korean delegation Kim kye-gwan yesterday afternoon, following on from dinner talks between the two on Tuesday night.

Hill said he sat next to Kim during the reception banquet on Tuesday night, and they "reiterated their desire to reach an agreement" at the end of this round of discussions.

It is reported that North Korea has asked the US to construct a light-water reactor as it wants to retain the right to a civilian nuclear program.

However, Washington ruled out such a possibility in the previous phase of talks.

Observers pointed out that the light-water reactors would take center stage in this phase of the nuclear disarmament talks.

This issue has been touched upon previously, but there has been no in-depth discussion.

South Korea's chief delegate Song Min-Soon told reporters after having lunch with Hill that North Korea could have the right to peaceful use of nuclear power after completing dismantlement of their nuclear weapons and nuclear programs.

He said they have not yet arrived at the stage where they discuss details of this concept.

Japan and North Korea also held an 80-minute bilateral meeting yesterday morning, and Japanese chief negotiator Kenichiro Sasae said the nuclear issue is the main issue at the moment, indicating that Japan may show flexibility on the abduction issue if necessary for reaching agreement on the joint document.

Japan has been seeking talks with North Korea since the opening of the fourth round of the talks in July, but North Korea had repeatedly turned down the request.

Chinese delegation spokesman Liu Jianchao said on Tuesday that many people are expecting breakthroughs or major progress in this phase of the six-party Talks.

He said that there should be no reason to be pessimistic about such a difficult process. "If we review the process, we indeed have achieved some substantive progress and consensus, which is very valuable and beneficial," he said.

According to reports from Seoul, the South Korean delegation deliberately changed their residential place this time, so as not to stay in the same hotel as the US and Japanese delegations.

South Korea side said the reason is that they didn't want to leave people with the impression that the three countries are jointly putting pressure onto Pyongyang.

(China Daily September 15, 2005)