Envoys gather in Beijing for N.Korea talks
(AP)Updated: 2006-11-28 10:10 North Korea's nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Tuesday as his counterparts from China, the US, South Korea and Japan were meeting to work out details on the next round of negotiations on dismantling the reclusive communist nation's nuclear weapons program.
 North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan arrives at Beijing airport November 28, 2006. North Korea is ready to return to talks on ending its nuclear weapons programme but still had difficult issues to iron out with the United States, Kim said on Tuesday. [Reuters]  |
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was to meet China's envoy Wu Dawei on Tuesday. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack has said that a meeting between Christopher Hill, the American envoy, and Kim is "certainly an open possibility."
"The issue for us is to make sure we are extremely well-planned and ready for the six-party talks, which we do anticipate will get going at some point very soon," Hill said when he arrived in the Chinese capital on Monday.
Japan's representative Kenichiro Sasae told Japanese reporters that he had held talks with Wu and Hill separately but denied that there were any plans for multilateral talks between the negotiators.
An unannounced meeting between Hill and Kim last month in Beijing led to North Korea agreeing to return to six-party arms negotiations amid heightened tensions after its first nuclear test on October 9.
Talks have been stalled for more than a year because of North Korean anger over financial sanctions imposed by the United States.
Officials have yet to determine an exact date for the talks, which also involve Russia.
South Korea's nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, has said getting preparations right for progress at the talks was more important than setting a date for restarting the negotiations.
"We will mainly focus on the procedure of the talks as it is essential to accomplish substantial progress rather than talking just for the sake of talking," he told reporters after arriving in Beijing on Monday.
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