BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Delegation members of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) met in Beijing Sunday morning for the upcoming six-party nuclear talks, according to a ROK diplomat in Beijing.

    The meeting, involving the two delegations' heads and some members, started at 11:00 a.m. and lasted for about 100 minutes, according to the diplomat with the ROK embassy in Beijing, who declined to be named and to give more details.

    It's the first meeting of the two delegations at the eve of the international nuclear talks.

    The DPRK and ROK delegations arrived here respectively on Fridayand Saturday. The US and Japanese delegations are expected to arrive here later Sunday while the Russian delegation expected Monday morning.

    Upon the arrival of all the five delegations, the Chinese side will host a banquet in honor of them Monday evening at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the venue for the previous three rounds of six-party talks.

    The ROK delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, and chief of the DPRK delegation is Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan.

    The new round of the talks, which involves China, the DPRK, theUnited States, the ROK, Russia and Japan, will begin at 9:00 am Tuesday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

    The fourth round of six-party talks, which was originally scheduled to be held last September, has been postponed due to various reasons.

    The resumption of the talks has rekindled hope for a breakthrough to the nuclear dismantlement deadlock, local observers said.

    The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue broke out in the 1990s. From2003 to 2004, the six countries held three rounds of talks in Beijing, but no substantial progress was made. Enditem