The working group on peace and security in Northeast Asia will run until Tuesday, chaired by Russia, and will be attended by delegations from the other five nations involved in negotiations on the North Korean nuclear issue - South and North Korea, China, the United States, and Japan.
"We are satisfied that at this difficult time for the DPRK [the North's official name], following a recent flooding in the country, the [North] Korean delegation has traveled to Moscow and is ready to discuss security matters. It is not our intention formalize the meeting; it is important to listen to the opinions of all sides and discuss current matters. We believe that this will be a 'brainstorming' session," said Vladimir Rakhmanin, ambassador at large who will represent Russia at the meeting.
Asked whether North Korea's recent missile tests would be discussed, he said: "If one of the parties decides to raise issues related to creating a peace and security system in Northeast Asia, we will listen to it," but added that the main forum for such discussions would be "two working groups, to meet later this month to discuss the normalization of relations between North Korea and the U.S., and between North Korea and Japan."
