Wu Dawei (C), chief negotiator of the
Chinese delegation presides over the opening ceremony of the sixth
round of the six-party talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 19, 2007.
The six parties for the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue started their sixth
round of negotiation in Beijing Monday morning, focusing on implementing
initial steps to fulfill the Sept. 19 joint statement.(Xinhua Photo/Wang
Jianhua) Photo
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BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The sixth round
negotiation of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue started
here Monday morning after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and
the United States reached an understanding on a frozen fund issue.
The United States agreed to transfer the DPRK-related
frozen fund at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA) to a Chinese bank in Beijing,
said U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser Monday morning
before the nuclear talks started.
"We have assurances the funds are going to be
transferred to a bank in Beijing to be used for humanitarian and educational
purposes," said Glaser in a statement.
The DPRK has proposed the transfer of the roughly 25
million U.S. dollars into an account held by DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank at the
Bank of China in Beijing, the statement said.
In September 2005, the U.S. Treasury Department,
suspecting the BDA of helping the DPRK launder money, ordered American financial
institutions to suspend business ties with the Macao-based bank, which
subsequently froze the U.S. dollar accounts held by the DPRK.
Rejecting the charge, the DPRK demanded the U.S. lift
the financial sanctions before it could return to the six-party talks,which
remained stalled for 13 months since the end of 2005.
As part of the nuclear deal reached during last round
talks in Beijing on Feb. 13, the United States agreed to settle the financial
dispute with the DPRK within 30 days.
The DPRK has pledged, within the framework of the
six-party talks, that these funds will be used solely for the well-being of its
people, including for the humanitarian and educational purposes, according to
the statement.
"We believe this resolves the issue of the
DPRK-related frozen funds," Glaser said.
China's chief negotiator Wu Dawei said at the opening
ceremony of the nuclear talks that based on the agreements the concerned parties
have reached, this meeting will focus on three issues.
"The first is to listen to the reports of all working
groups; the second is to discuss the specific steps for the implementation of
the initial actions; the third is to carry out preliminary discussion about the
steps or actions that all parties are prepared to take or should take in the
next phase," Wu said.
However, Wu said there are still a lot of
difficulties and obstacles on the way ahead.
As the chair of the meeting, Wu said he sincerely
hopes that "all sides will continue to take part in all the meetings with a
flexible, pragmatic and constructive approach and make positive contribution to
the progress of the completion of all agenda items of this meeting."
"The Chinese delegation will work closely with all
other delegations to work for new progress and achievements of this meeting," he
said.
At the plenary meeting after the opening ceremony,
DPRK chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan expressed his hope that the six parties
should enhance mutual trust and fulfil respective obligations in the principles
of "commitment-for-commitment and action-for-action".
Kim said that the DPRK is prepared to shut down its
Yongbyon nuclear facilities and accept supervision and verification from the
IAEA if the other parties fulfil their commitments as scheduled.
Chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill said since the
United States and the DPRK have reached an understanding on the frozen fund
issue, the parties now should concentrate on how to implement the initial steps
and fix on roadmap on next-step actions.
Hill said the parties should maintain the sound
momentum and continue to push forward the talks.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will shut
down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon if its funds are comprehensively
unfrozen, said its top delegate to the six-party talks Kim Kye-Gwan.
Kim addressed the chief envoy meeting here on Monday
morning that only when the funds issue is solved substantially, can trust be
established among all sides.
BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States agreed to
transfer the frozen fund related to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK) to a Chinese bank in Beijing, a U.S. official said here Monday before
six-party nuclear talks resumed in Beijing.
"We have assurances the funds are going to be transferred
to a bank in Beijing to be used for humanitarian and educational purposes," the
U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser said.
BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The way toward shutting down nuclear facilities in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has become clearer with the U.S. agreement to unfreeze a DPRK bank account, said a top nuclear negotiator from the Republic of Korea (ROK) Monday evening.
The sixth round of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue started in good atmosphere and all the delegations expressed their will for substantive results in this round of multilateral talks, said Chun Yung Woo, ROK chief negotiator to the talks.
According to Chun, the DPRK has expressed its hope to have in-depth discussions and reach an agreement with other parties on the measures to be taken after the initial-steps phase.
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