Related report: Six-party talks - 3rd phase of 5th round

    SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Christopher Hill, U.S. chief negotiator for the six-party talks, said Saturday here that he expects "some real changes" in next week's six-party talks.

    "I am not going to get into specific elements, but I think we need to see some real changes on the ground," Hill, who is also the assistant secretary of State, told reporters upon his arrival at the Incheon International Airport.

    "We've had a lot of consultations for this round, and reasonably we can make some progress," Hill said. "Let's see if some of those useful, substantive conversations we've had can be put to use in negotiations."

    "I think we have to go from having various declarations to having agreement on implementation," Hill added. "So I am looking for some implementation of the September 2005 agreement, meaning something changes on the ground."

    Diplomats from China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK), the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan will gather in Beijing next Wednesday to launch the third session of the fifth round of the six-party talks on the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula.

    Hill will stay in South Korea until next Monday to fine-tune a strategy for the negotiation with Seoul and then fly to Japan.

    At a joint statement adopted in the fourth round of the six-party talks on Sept. 19 2005, DPRK agreed to drop its nuclear weapon program in exchange for security guarantee, economic aids and normalization of diplomatic ties with the United States. However, the statement has not been implemented so far.

Related: U.S. hopes to make progress in six-party talks


    WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The United States said on Thursday it hopes to make progress when the six-party talks aimed at dissolving the nuclear programs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) resume on Feb. 8.

    "We do believe we have a basis for making progress at this round," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said at a briefing.

China hopes upcoming 6-party talks to end in 3-4 days

    BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is also China's chief negotiator to the six-party talks, said on Wednesday that he hopes the upcoming session of six-party talks will accomplish its mission within three to four days.

    Wu's remarks came after the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ended their second-day of talks on financial issues.