Envoys to 6-party talks make final effort to work out a deal

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Source: CCTV.com | 02-13-2007 08:48

The negotiators to the six-party nuclear talks in the Chinese capital have worked through the night, in a bid to clinch a possible deal. But no agreements have been announced yet. The talks are scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

Over sixteen hours of work Monday was an extraordinarily intensive day for delegates to the six-party talks.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said early Tuesday morning that the consultations will continue later in the day.

Spokesman of the Chinese delegation Qin Gang speaks to the media at a news briefing of Six-party talks in Beijing, Feb.13, 2007. Qin told a news briefing on early Tuesday morning that the consultation would continue on Tuesday. (Xinhua Photo)

Qin Gang, said, "All the relevant parties have made extraordinary efforts for these talks. There has been some progress but it still needs further discussion and consultation. So the talks will carry on today."

China distributed a final version of the draft for a possible joint document.

US chief negotiator, Christopher Hill, described it as "excellent", but said it needs to be approved by each country involved.

Hill said, "I think we made a lot of progress. I'm encouraged by this. We might be able to take a real step towards denuclearization ..."

Russian representative, Alexander Losyukov, echoed Hill's comments.

He says the overall draft text is good, but differences still remain on some details.

Alexander Losyukov, said, "It's a crucial document. If it's finally adopted, it's definitely a breakthrough for the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue."

ROK chief negotiator, Chun Yung Woo, said the six-parties have already reached preliminary agreements on the initial steps of the denuclearization process and energy cooperation with the DPRK.

Chun Yung Woo, said, "We present a draft which gains support from other four countries, and negotiated it with the DPRK in the name of the four countries. The DPRK has expressed its basic satisfaction over the figures mentioned by the draft."

Japanese chief negotiator, Kenichiro Sasae, said the focus on Tuesday will be whether to adopt the final version of the draft distributed by China.

Kenichiro Sasae, said, "The final version of the draft is based on the mutual understanding between different parties. We will make study it closely. Whether to adopt the draft will become the focus of future discussions."

But Sasae also noted that Japan isn't moving along if the abduction issue isn't resolved.

Editor:Du Xiaodan