South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said in Seoul today that patience and a sincere attitude from all parties involved at the six-party talks were needed to resolve the Korean nuclear issue.

 

"It is still too early to predict the outcome of the six-party talks, but I hope the participating countries will work with patience and sincere efforts to overcome current conditions to help achieve peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," Lee said.

 

"I believe we will be able to fundamentally resolve the nuclear issue and establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, which in turn, as President Roh Moo-hyun once said, would help establish peace in the Northeast Asian region and the world," he added.

 

Lee spoke highly of the efforts taken so far by the international community to help resolve the nuclear dispute, stressing that it was important now to "build trust" among the parties concerned and implement previous agreements and pledges.

 

The future and peace of the Northeast Asian region as well as the world depended on the outcome of the talks, he said.

 

Negotiators from China, the US, Russia, Japan, North and South Korea launched the second phase of the fifth-round six-party talks in Beijing on Monday. Multi-lateral and bilateral contacts have been conducted among the six parties.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2006)