Chief negotiator of South Korea Chun Yung-woo arrived in Beijing Wednesday afternoon for a series of working group discussions ahead of a fresh round six-party talks scheduled on next Monday.

"I hope the talks will achieve positive progress, and we will make efforts for that," Chun told reporters upon his arrival.

Negotiators of the six parties will have three working group meetings starting from Thursday, which aim to discuss details of ways to implement the initial steps of September 19 joint statement.

The working group of economic and energy resources cooperation, headed by the South Korean side, will start its first meeting Thursday afternoon.

During the last round of talks, the six parties reached consensus on the initial steps to implement the joint statement.

The steps included establishing five working groups, which will discuss the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea-US relations, North Korea-Japan relations, the economic and energy resources cooperation, and peace and security of northeast Asia.

The two working groups of North Korea-US relations and North Korea-Japan relations had already held their first meetings in New York and Hanoi, respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007)