Beijing session of working group on North Korea: nothing but words

During the first session of the working group on the settlement of a nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsular held by six countries in Beijing, the participants reached understanding on the need for response measures for freezing North Korea's nuclear program.

"The sides have reached understanding that the freezing of the nuclear program of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in exchange for the other sides' respective measures is a major stage in achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsular," says a press release of the Russian foreign ministry's information department.

The first session of the working group took place on May 12 to 15. Representatives of Russia, North Korea, the United States, China, the Republic of Korea and Japan took part in session at the level of deputy heads of the delegations at the talks.

"The participants in the session confirmed that they were interested in the soonest possible settlement of the problem and the nuclear-free status of the Korean Peninsular to be achieved through constructive dialogue on the basis of due account taken of all the sides' concerns," reads the press release of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"An agreement on plans to hold the third round of the talks by the end of June has been confirmed. Exact dates of the third round and the timeframe for holding the working group's next session in order to organize preparations for this round will be agreed upon through diplomatic channels," the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

The press release also said that the sides reached an agreement to submit draft regulations on the working group's activities at the third round of talks for endorsement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that "Moscow appraises the past consultations as useful, points to the businesslike and open character of the discussion, and expresses its readiness to make a further active contribution to the negotiating process.