DPRK promises to attend Six-Party Talks
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-29 06:25

PYONGYANG: President Hu Jintao received assurance on Friday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will return to the Korean Peninsula denuclearization negotiation table early next month.

"The DPRK believes the common statement issued by the fourth round of Six-Party Talks was hard-won and of positive significance," said Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission, during his talks with Hu.

"The DPRK will honour its commitment and attend the fifth round of talks as scheduled," Kim said.

The top DPRK leader stressed that his country will insist on its stance of maintaining a nuclear-free peninsula, as well as resolving the nuclear issue through peaceful means and talks.

Hu said China will maintain the goal of a nuclear-free peninsula, and the peaceful settlement of the issue through dialogue, so that peace and stability on the peninsula and in the region can be safeguarded.

China "will join efforts with the DPRK and other parties concerned to implement the overall objective of the common statement (of the fourth round of Six-Party Talks) and push for new progress in the fifth round of talks," Hu said.

The new round of talks, which also include the United States, Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia, is scheduled to open in Beijing early next month but the specific date has yet to be fixed.

Hu made the official goodwill visit in his capacity as general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.