BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Republic of Korea (ROK) chief negotiator, Chun Yung Woo, Thursday said ROK will provide 50,000 tons of heavy oil to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as part of the initial steps to realize denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

    Chun told a press conference in Beijing that the oil is part of an energy assistance package that will eventually see the DPRK receive a million tons of oil in exchange for shutting its main nuclear reactor.

    The delivery of the remaining 950,000 tons depends on future negotiations, said Chun.

    The six parties held a four-hour working group meeting on economy and energy cooperation on Thursday afternoon at the ROK embassy in Beijing.

    Five of the parties told the working group how they could provide assistance to the DPRK, said Chun.

    The DPRK delegates explained their country was badly in need of energy. The United States said it was willing to provide within 60days power generators that can be used in hospitals.

    Chun said the DPRK didn't respond to the U.S. offer and it may not do so until the fresh round of talks begin on March 19.

    Six parties have been holding three working group meetings since Thursday, discussing how to implement the initial steps of the Sept. 19th joint statement.

    Two other working groups, one on regional security, the other on denuclearization, are to meet in the coming days.

    The working groups on DPRK-U.S. relations and DPRK-Japan relations met in New York and Hanoi in early March.

    The six party talks involve negotiators from China, DPRK, the United States, ROK, Japan and Russia and are aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.