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

    BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Envoys to the six-party talks on Saturday struggled to decide on the first steps toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, but no agreement was reached.

    The negotiations entered the third day on Saturday as chief envoys discussed specifics on the initial steps required to implement a 2005 statement.

    In the joint statement, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees.

    Qin Gang, spokesman for the Chinese delegation, told a press conference on Saturday evening that the consensus has been increasing and the differences were narrowed among the six parties.

    "The disagreement on some specific items won't affect the concerned parties to reach the consensus", Qin noted

    According to Qin, the discussion centered on the economic and energy cooperation with the DPRK on Saturday and "the differences on the issue still remain large on the issue", Qin said.

    China still expects some positive outcomes from the talks despite difficulties during the process of building consensus, Qin said.

    Chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill said "it is basically one or two items, probably best described as one item", urging the DPRK to take a further step toward a "multilateral agreement."

    "No resolution has been reached so far," Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae said at the end of Saturday's talks.

    The situation is still "tough" at the six-party talks as the direction for a solution cannot been seen on some questions, Sasae said.

    The major stumbling block remained on the DPRK's denuclearization steps and other parties' compensation measures.

    The draft agreement was circulated to the delegates Thursday night, a document that could see envoys take the first steps towards denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

    All parties have been working on revising the document on Saturday.

    The revisions would cover the issues of how working groups operate, and how to provide aid to the DPRK, provided consensus is reached, Russian representative Alexander Losyukov said Saturday morning.

    "The biggest obstacle to reaching a joint statement remains on the issue of the economic aid to the DPRK," said Losyukov after he finished bilateral consultation with other parties.

    He said that no final figures on the economic aid to the DPRK were decided yet, declining to reveal the DPRK's demand for the economic aid but stressing all the other issues could be resolved under the six-party framework.

    The delegation from China, host to the six-party talks since they began in 2003, held separate one-on-one consultations with all the other five parties on Saturday in order to coordinate their differences, sources with the press center of the six-party talks said.

    There have been more than 10 one-on-one meetings and multilateral talks held on Saturday, according to Chinese press center.

    Reports said the draft agreement proposed halting within two months work at nuclear sites in the DPRK, including the Yongbyon reactor, and supplying Pyongyang with alternative energy sources.

    Later Saturday, an official of Republic of Korea (ROK) said on condition of anonymity that Saturday's talks were active and positive.

    After a 48-day recess, the negotiators gathered again in Beijing on Thursday to explore the first steps in implementing the 2005 statement.