BEIJING, January 19 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - The Foreign Ministry of China welcomes the results of a meeting held in Beijing between U.S. and North Korean envoys to talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear program, the ministry's official spokesman Kong Quan said Thursday.
The January 18 meeting between U.S. envoy Christopher Hill and North Korea negotiator Kim Kye-gwan was held in Beijing on China's proposal. The U.S. and North Korea negotiators were also joined by China's top envoy to the nuclear talks. The meeting showed a positive attitude toward the resumption of six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the Chinese diplomat said.
Quan also said the six-party talks had been at the top of the agenda during a recent visit by North Korea leader Kim Jong-il to China. During their meeting, the North Korean and Chinese leaders said the talks were the best way to make the Korean peninsula nuclear free and said they were prepared to continue them.
The six countries - both Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia - agreed in November 2005 to meet early this year to try to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs. However, the future of six-nation talks was thrown into doubt after North Korea reacted angrily to Washington's imposing of financial sanctions on the country. In early January, North Korea said it would not return to the negotiating table while the sanctions were in effect. But Washington said the financial sanctions had no relation to the talks.
