Six-party talks to resume in Beijing

The six-party talks will resume Thursday afternoon in Beijing, focusing on phase two of dismantling the DPRK's nuclear program.

On Wednesday, China began holding bilateral meetings with all the parties involved, including South Korea. The head of the Chinese delegation, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, hoped all sides would take the opportunity to make further progress. His South Korean counterpart, Kim Sook expressed his appreciation of China's efforts.

This round of six-party talks will be the first in about nine months. The DPRK has partially declared its nuclear progress and has begun disabling its main reactor facility. This led Washington to begin the process of removing the DPRK from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang has said the meeting will focus on realizing the second phase of the action plan in a comprehensive and balanced way.

Wu Dawei said "Under the delicate cultivation of the six participants, the tree of the six-party talks is growing vigorously. Its root is getting deeper, leaves thicker, and fruit more abundant. This time, we will be holding a meeting involving delegation leaders. We hope that through the efforts of each participant, we can make an overall arrangement to realize the second phase of the action plan while continuing to push the Six-Party Talks forward. We believe that through these efforts we can achieve positive results."