The coming six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula will create favorite conditions for a peaceful solution to the issue and for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

The talks among the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China are scheduled to open Wednesday in Beijing.

Since the eruption of the nuclear crisis last October, parties concerned have differed on how to the address the issue, which threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the international community has made unremitting efforts to resolve the issue. April's tripartite talks in Beijing among the DPRK, the United States and China was a good try.

The upcoming six-party talks will be the latest of the parties'endeavors to solve the nuclear issue.

Popped up against the backdrop of a volatile world, the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula reflects the collision of strategic interests among the sides involved.

In the times of peace and development, the very existence of the nuclear issue and possible conflicts it may spark are neither in the fundamental interests of the parties concerned, nor beneficial to regional peace, stability and cooperation.

To ease up the confrontation caused by the nuclear issue is the call of regional peace and it will benefit all parties concerned. Solving the issue will help remove the contradictions in regional security, and safeguard long-term peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The nuclear issue will surely top the agenda of the six-party talks, but undoing the knots of the nuclear issue needs adequate methods.

The Korean Peninsula should be nuclear-free, but enough importance should also be attached to the DPRK's concerns over its own security. Linking peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula to Pyongyang's security concerns, and finding a comprehensive way to address such concerns and to realize a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula at the same time should be the basic idea guiding the six parties to the talks in tackling the issue.

Meanwhile, focusing on the non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and refraining from raising unrelated issues would ensure that the six-party talks proceed on the right track.

The starting point of the six-party talks is to seek a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and any other irrational solutions shall be discarded.

Inclinations to exert pressure and to resort to hard-line approaches did surface on the international arena since the emergence of the crisis, but seeking a peaceful solution through diplomatic means has all along remained the mainstream opinion.

Piling up pressure unilaterally or taking hard-line measures will not help solve the nuclear issue. On the contrary, it would deepen contradictions and threaten regional peace and security.

Only peaceful measures can bring hope to solving the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The issue must be solved peacefully, and the international community is also looking forward to a peaceful solution.

The road ahead for the six-party talks will by no means be smooth, but as long as the sides concerned work together sincerely and stick to peaceful negotiations, they will be able to register the first step toward a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2003)