The top negotiator of the US to the six-party talks on Tuesday expressed his optimism about the upcoming denuclearization working group meeting, saying that he believed the meeting would make positive strides forward.

 

"I felt, based on the very businesslike meeting last night, that we will get through the denuclearization working group meeting with some very specific ideas of how to proceed..." Hill told reporters upon leaving his hotel on Tuesday morning.

 

Hill flew to Beijing on Monday afternoon and met with his counterpart Kim Kye-gwan of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) immediately upon his arrival. Kim arrived in Beijing on Saturday.

 

The meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday and Friday in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. It will focus on measures to facilitate the denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula.

 

Hill said he would discuss "options of how to denuclearize and how to disable, for example.” The crucial question will be the actual meeting of the six parties.

 

He said that he would meet his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, around 3:00 PM on Tuesday. They will discuss bilateral issues and the six-party talks.

 

Hill said on Monday that he and Kim had tentatively agreed to meet again in late August to discuss the US-DPRK relations.

 

On Tuesday he denied the possibility that the meeting will be held in Southeast Asia, or in the US or in Northeast Asia. Hill stated that he needed to check with Washington for specific dates and venues.

 

The Shenyang meeting comes days after the working group meeting of economy and energy cooperation was held at the truce village of Panmunjom from August 7 to 8.

 

The chief delegates to the six-party talks agreed in July, their last meeting, to hold the next meetings of the five working groups in August.

 

The six-party talks, initiated in 2003, include China, DPRK, the USA, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2007)