The delegations of the United States and North Korea to the six-party talks held two rounds of bilateral consultations Friday, producing no exciting results.

 

The deadlocked talks itself also showed no sign of ending.

 

"The fourth round of six-party talks had a good start. However, little progress has been made", said Liu Jiangyong, a professor of the Institute of International Studies under China's prestigious Qinghua University.

 

The delegations of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue agreed Friday afternoon to continue their meetings on Saturday as the parties concerned will continue to work for narrowing differences.

 

The talks set no deadline for its duration since they started on Tuesday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. The talks involve China, North Korea, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan.

 

Now it is a critical moment for talks to score some "exciting results", Liu added.

 

After the three-hour third meeting Thursday morning, which was longer than the previous two meetings, the US and North Korean delegations agreed "to continue consultations" on Saturday.

 

"It reflects the efforts from the both sides to narrow their differences", said Jin Linbo, a scholar at China's Institute of International Studies.

 

Christopher Hill, head of the US delegation, said Thursday afternoon that the US and North Korea "had a lengthy discussion and I must say there are a number of differences."

 

"On the other hand, on some points we have some common understanding on how to proceed," he said.

 

"If we can say that in the former two meetings the two sides had put out their attitudes and differences, then in this meeting, they should begin a consultation of how to solve the issue", Jin said.

 

"This means that the talks have come to a substantial phase," Jin added.

 

Liu said that only the US and North Korea are decisive to the success of the fourth round of six-party talks, stressing that if the two sides will remain committed, some positive results are expected to be made.

 

A Japanese diplomatic source disclosed Friday that all parties concerned will begin to draft a common document on Saturday that means the six-party talks enter a new phase.

 

"Even if we really have a common document at the end of this round of talks, it does not mean breakthrough has been made", Jin said, adding that the breakthrough on paper is easy, but implementation remains quite difficult.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2005)