BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The Republic of Korea (ROK) on Tuesday called on all the parties involved in the Korean nuclear issue talks to "soften stance" for progress.

    "If the parties concerned do not soften their stance, it will be hard to achieve progress," said Song Min-soon, head of the ROK delegation to the fourth-round six-party talks.

    Song told reporters when he arrived in Tuesday morning that all the six parties had kept bilateral contacts in a high frequency during the five-week recession since Aug. 7.

    The six parties involve China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States, the ROK, Russia and Japan.

    Song stressed such contacts laid basis for a possible substantial progress in the talks.

    However, it would be difficult to make positive results in the second-phase talks if the parties concerned fail to soften stance.

    "As far as the prospect is concerned, I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic," the ROK deputy foreign minister said.

    Song said he and Christopher Hill, US chief negotiator for the six-party talks, reached a consensus on a number of issues concerning the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue during their meeting on Monday in Seoul. But he did not give any details.

    Song arrived here by the same plane with Hill, who paid a brief visit to Seoul on Monday, during which he also met with ROK Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on the nuclear issue.

    The chief negotiators of the six-party talks are scheduled to hold their first meeting here Tuesday afternoon, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. Enditem