Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov and North Korea's nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan discussed the prospects of continuing six-nation talks on the Korean peninsula nuclear issue, following the results of recent U.S.-North Korean contacts at the level of the deputy heads of foreign policy departments in Berlin, the information and press department said.
At their meeting in Berlin Tuesday, Kye-gwan and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator, discussed, in particular, a date for a meeting of six participant delegations involved in talks over North Korea's controversial nuclear program. The negotiations are expected to be restarted in February.
The talks, which involve North and South Korea, Russia, China, Japan, and the United States, were launched in 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions.
In September 2005, North Korea signed a "joint statement" committing itself to abandoning its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees.
But the reclusive communist state boycotted the talks two months later following Washington's demand that its accounts at a Macau-based bank be frozen for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting of U.S. dollars. Since then, North Korea has conducted its first nuclear test and tested ballistic missiles.
The talks resumed last December following a 13-month standoff, but ended without result. At a symbolic ceremony, the six participant delegations made a joint statement reiterating their commitment to further negotiations in the same format.
