Chinese chief delegate to the six-party talks Wang Yi Friday called on parties involved in the talks on the Korean nuclear issue to show sincerity and work for progress on what has achieved so far.

Wang described Friday's meeting as "active and beneficial," and said it is because differences, difficulties and contradictions still exist that continuation of the six-party talks process is "necessary."

Wang, also vice foreign minister, urged all sides to "show sincerity to each other" and "take a step forward."

Delegates from China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan began the second round of talks from Wednesday, and a common document all the six parties agree to is expected to be issued when the talks end Saturday.

At the third plenary session Friday morning, various delegations tabled their proposals on setting up working groups and fixing the date of next round of talks, said Liu Jianchao, a Chinese delegate.

Deputy heads of the teams held consultations for the drafting of the multilateral document, among other issues, in the afternoon, according to informed sources.

"The gap is being narrowed down and common ground is increasing," Liu said, adding that China appreciated the sincerity, frankness and pragmatism demonstrated at the talks.

Russia's chief negotiator Alexander Losiukov said the discussion on setting up working groups was "substantive and important," and it would be a big achievement if the groups were to be formed.

Although there was no obvious sign that the DPRK and the United States were getting closer to a consensus, Losiukov said, their discussion was carried out in a "calm and down-to-earth" atmosphere.

He said it was hard to predict if the common document would be released, but the possibility was "pretty high."

Lee Soo-Hyuck, deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade who heads the ROK team, said the six-party talks were "conducive" to the final settlement of the nuclear issue and to security in Northeast Asia.

The talks will also help find ways of ensuring regional security in Northeast Asia and solving all remaining problems on the peninsula, he said.

"It might be a long-term process in addressing all related issues," he added.

Lee disclosed that at the meeting Friday morning, the DPRK, the United States, the ROK and Japan ardently mulled the wording of the would-be document and other major issues.

The six sides also discussed whether to regularize the six-way format and were exploring the most reasonable and appropriate way. But it was difficult to fix the date for the next round of the talks, Lee said.

The US, DPRK and Japanese teams gave no comments on the meeting in day three.

Zha Daojiong, a international relations scholar at the Chinese People's University, said that both the DPRK and the United States seemed to show some flexibility.

"Patience is needed for further progress," Zha said.

Although Americans maintained their consistent insistence on a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of the DPRK's nuclear programs, Ni Feng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said the US side still showed willingness to continue talks.

Ni expected the parties concerned would increase consensus at Saturday's meeting.

It is reported that neither the DPRK nor the United States were playing too tough, which might benefit further talks, said Hong Yuan, an arms control expert also with the CASS. 
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2004)