The United States, insisting that there is no change in its policy on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, said Thursday that the six-way talks held in Beijing were "positive."

"The assessment from our team ... is that this is a positive session," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said in Crawford, Texas, where US president George W. Bush is on a summer vocation.

The comment came after delegates from China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the ROK, Russia and Japan concluded their second-day six-way meeting held in Beijing.

Describing cooperation among the partners in the talks as "excellent," Buchan said that "we believe there's been excellent cooperation in the talks among the five partners of the United States, including China, Japan, South Korea and Russia."

But the spokeswoman added that the US "top priority has not changed," that is the DPRK "must completely, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear program."
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2003)