Diplomats from China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan continued discussions on the working group level Tuesday in Beijing to prepare for the third round of six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, scheduled for Wednesday to Saturday.  

The Chinese working group, led by Ning Fukui, ambassador for Korean Peninsula issue of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, will hold bilateral consultations with the other sides to further exchange views before the high-level talks start on Wednesday, sources said.

The other delegations for the two-day working-level meeting were led respectively by Li Gun, deputy director-general of the American Department of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, Saiki Akitaika, deputy director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Cho Tae-yong, director-general of the ROK Foreign Ministry's task force on the DPRK nuclear issue, V. Sukhinin, deputy director of the first Asian Department of Russian Foreign Ministry and Joseph R. DeTrani, US State Department special envoy for negotiations with the DPRK.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said the working group meeting will focus on preparation for substantial contents to be discussed at the talks, and relevant documents and arrangements will also be under discussion.

Meanwhile, the DPRK Embassy in China confirmed Tuesday morning that its delegation head Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan arrived in Beijing Monday afternoon.

The delegation heads from the other four parties are expected to reach Beijing Tuesday, including Russian Ambassador-at-Large Alexander Alexeyev, ROK's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lee Soo-hyuck, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the United States James Kelly and Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry Mitoji Yabunaka. The Chinese delegation will still be led by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The first round of the six-party talks was held in Beijing from the August 26 to 28, 2003. The six parties agreed to establish a working group mechanism during the second round of the six-party talks in late February.

The first working group meeting was held in Beijing from May 12to 15, and the participants confirmed that the third round of six-party talks will be held before the end of June as scheduled. They had a frank and pragmatic exchange of views on the nuclear-weapon-free issue, security guarantee and measures for nuclear freezing.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2004)