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

Hill arrives for working group talks on nuke issue

    BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Top U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon to participate in the working group talks ahead of a new round six-party talks scheduled on next Monday.

    "I hope to meet Mr El Baradei tomorrow," Hill told reporters at the airport, adding DPRK's receiving of El Baradei was "obviously" a "good sign".

    "We have to hear what Mr El Baradei has to say," he added.

    Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed El Baradei had a one-day trip to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from Tuesday to Wednesday.

    Negotiators of the six parties will have three working group meetings starting from Thursday.

    Hill said he will be in the denuclearization working group, northeast Asia security working group and the fresh round of six-party talks.

    During the last round of talks, the six parties reached consensus on the initial steps to implement the joint statement.

    The steps included establishing five working groups, which will discuss the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, DPRK-U.S. relations, DPRK-Japan relations, the economic and energy resources cooperation, and peace and security of northeast Asia.

    The two working groups of DPRK-U.S. relations and DPRK-Japan relations had already held their first meetings in New York and Hanoi, respectively.

ROK chief negotiator arrives to discuss nuke issue

    BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Chief negotiator of the Republic of Korea Chun Yung Woo arrived in the Chinese capital Wednesday afternoon for a series of working group discussions ahead of a fresh round six-party talks scheduled on next Monday.

    "I hope the talks will achieve positive progress, and we will make efforts for that," Chun told reporters upon his arrival.

    Negotiators of the six parties will have three working group meetings starting from Thursday, which aim to discuss details of ways to implement the initial steps of Sept. 19 joint statement.

    The working group of economic and energy resources cooperation, headed by the ROK side, will start its first meeting Thursday afternoon.

ElBaradei: DPRK wants to come back as IAEA member

    BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei said here Wednesday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) wanted to come back as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).