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FM: Informal Six-Party Talks end with meaningful results

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-23 21:42

SINGAPORE - The first informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Six-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue concluded here on Wednesday with "very meaningful results", Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.

(L-R) Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi, DPRK's Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun and Japan's Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura pose for a group photo before meeting between foreign ministers of the six party nations and Rice on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Singapore July 23, 2008. [Agencies]

In a news briefing after the close-door talks on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting, Yang said that the Six-Party Talks have "very meaningful results", adding that they exchanged views and deepened understanding and expressed the will of continued pushing forward the Six-Party Talks further.

Yang said, "with joint efforts, the six parties agreed that the initial success has been achieved" and the informal talks "made useful preparation for the formal Six-Party Ministerial Talks in early day".

The six countries involved in the talks are DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

In a statement issued late Tuesday night on ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea), ASEAN ministers welcomed recent developments that have contributed to regional peace and security in East Asia.

They reiterated their support for the Six-Party Talks and for the eventual normalization of relations between the relevant Six- Party members.

The latest round of talks was held in Beijing. Chief delegates of the Six-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue ended talks on July 12, agreeing to establish a verification mechanism for denuclearization.