The sixth round of six-nation talks on North Korea's denuclearization will resume in Beijing September 27. The talks, involving China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas, were postponed last week at the request of Pyongyang. No reasons were given for the postponement.
"The South Korean delegation will do all it can, and will play a unique role to ensure early progress," Chun Yung-woo said.
He did not say exactly what South Korea intends to do, but the country has of late been actively seeking for a compromise solution as the key to achieving stability on the peninsula.
The South Korean diplomat said the central topic at the talks will be to find means of persuading Pyongyang to shut down its nuclear facilities and provide complete data on its nuclear programs.
The upcoming talks are expected to finalize a timeline for the second stage of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Under a February 2007 agreement, in exchange for North Korea's denuclearization, the reclusive state will receive 950,000 metric tons of fuel oil for its thermal power-generating plants. This is in addition to 50,000 already delivered by South Korea for the closure of its only operational nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.
China, a traditional host of the six-party talks, said last week it had begun deliveries of 50,000 tons of fuel oil to North Korea, and that the first shipment had been delivered on September 16.
