Beijing six-party talks, a multi-lateral strive to settle the Korean nuclear issue, progressed smoothly on Wednesday.

"The six-party talks is the fruit of common efforts and we should cherish it very much," Li Zhaoxing, Chinese Foreign Minister, said Wednesday evening while meeting with the six parties' heads before a banquet in honor of the delegates from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States, Russia, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan.

"We wish that the concerned sides could strive to seek common ground, create a sound atmosphere for the later dialogues and reserve the six-party talks progress on the Korean nuclear issue," Li said.

Official from the ROK embassy in China said the first day talks are smooth and Japanese official said DPRK and the United States held bilateral talks on the sideline of the multi-lateral talks.

The Chinese side said that the six delegations attending the talks comprehensively expounded their principled stance and proposals on resolving the Korean nuclear issue.

The participants, saying they hope to peacefully resolve the Korean nuclear issue through dialogue, regarded the six-party talks as a rare opportunity for peace in northeast Asia and pledged to make due contributions to the talks.

Before the talks, heads of the delegations joined hands while posing for photo in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in west Beijing, China's top venue and former imperial garden, sending a positive signal to the world.

China, DPRK and the United States held talks in Diaoyutai last April, which were seen as a "good start" for seeking a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue.

The six-party talks were not only the continuation and expansion of the trilateral talks held last April in Beijing, but also a new start, indicating an important step forward in seeking a peaceful solution, said Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his opening speech.

The DPRK daily Rodong Sinmun Wednesday urged parties concerned to avail themselves of the opportunity and make it a success, or bring out substantial results.

ROK Minister of Unification Jeong Se-hyun said the de-nuclearization on the Korean Peninsula will forge the base for common prosperity of the two peoples.

ROK hopes the six-party talks and the dialogue between the two Koreas could go on smoothly and be successful, the ROK minister said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losiukov said that talks are the sole realistic way to solve the complicated issue on the Korean Peninsula.

The talks should be the beginning of major substantial bilateral and multilateral talks and Russia support such progress, he said.

A Japanese delegate said that the six-party talks served as a framework of solving the nuclear issue peacefully and there is no side pursuing hostility policy,

Wu Xinbo, a professor of the American Studies Center of Shanghai-based Fudan University said the talks is going on smoothly and indicated that DPRK and the United States both wished to see progress.

The final fruits will depend on the substantial contact between DPRK and the United States. "The upcoming talks are more worth of watching," Wu said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2003)