BEIJING, September 21 (Itar-Tass) — North Korea and South Korea have failed to agree on ways to resume six-party talks on the nuclear problem of the Korean peninsula, the heads of the two countries’ delegations at six-party talks announced on Wednesday after bilateral consultations.
“We discussed the nuclear problem on the whole. Such meetings as this one are part of efforts to resume six-party talks,” South Korea’s chief negotiator Wi Sung-lac said. “We will continue efforts in that direction,” the diplomat said, adding that the talks on Wednesday had been useful.
The chief negotiator of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ri Yong-ho, for his part also said his dialogue with the South Korean counterpart had been “constructive and useful”, but once again came out in favor of the resumption of negotiations without preliminary conditions.
“Basing on the results of that meeting, we will continue work on an early resumption of six-way talks without preliminary conditions,” the North Korean diplomat said.
Pyongyang and Seoul have considerable differences as to moves to be made for the renewal of the negotiating process. South Korea insists that North Korea meet some preliminary conditions.
It believes North Korea must stop its nuclear program and IAEA inspectors must return to North Korea. Pyongyang, for its part, insists on the resumption of the process of negotiations without any demands.
Efforts of the parties to resume negotiations, from which Pyongyang withdrew in April 2009 in response to sanctions by the U.N. Security Council, have become more active of late.
The sanctions were slapped on North Korea after it had launched a long-range missile and made a second nuclear test. However, the exact time framework of the new meeting within the framework of six-party talks has not been fixed as of yet.