Roh Moo-hyun, president of the Republic of Korea (ROK), expressed his hope Friday the ongoing six-party talks would reach a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. 

 

"Our best efforts have been made to help find a peaceful solution to the DPRK nuclear issue, and most problems have either been overcome or are moving toward solutions," Roh said at an international conference at a Seoul hotel.

 

"Still, some problems remain, but solutions are taking shape, and hope is in sight," Roh was quoted by Yonhap News Agency.

 

Roh's remarks came amid the third day of the second round six-way nuclear talks, which is being held in Beijing from Wednesday.

 

In the second day of the multilateral nuclear talks, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) put forward a proposal to completely stop nuclear program, according to Liu Jianchao, deputy director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Information Department.

 

However, in a statement of the DPRK delegation to the nuclear talks Thursday night, the DPRK condemned the United States for its hard-line stance that Pyongyang should first abandon its nuclear programs before getting any compensations.

 

Pyongyang's position calls for a simultaneous swap of a freeze of its nuclear activities for a security guarantee and energy aid from the United States, as well as for the removal of the DPRK from the US list of states sponsoring terrorism.

 

An official of the ROK Presidential Office was also quoted by Yonhap as saying on Friday that "It is a huge leap for the DPRK and the United States to have put their complete agendas on the table," noting the two sides have maintained hard-line stance toward each other.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2004)