By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter



Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Unification Minister
Ban Ki-moon Chung Dong-young

The upcoming six-party nuclear talks would have a recess which could last two or three days, allowing North Korean delegates to ask the Pyongyang regime for approval before reaching a deal, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.
``If a participating country needs time-out to ask for the home government’s instructions, and if it needs a two- or three-day break, then we intend to wait,’’ Ban said at a weekly media briefing in Seoul.

The fourth round of talks is scheduled to begin at the Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing July 26.

``In the past, the talks used to last three or four days and we had to wait several months before resuming the next round of talks,’’ he said. ``Such a process made it difficult to maintain momentum and took a great deal of diplomatic effort to simply reopen the talks.’’

All participating countries, except North Korea, have tentatively reached a consensus that they need to remedy this ``unproductive’’ and ``inefficient’’ situation, Ban said.

He expressed the hope that the six countries could agree in extending the conference period and each participating country could have various sessions of talks in different formats, including bilateral talks and chief delegates’ talks, to produce a meaningful and substantive result.

``We do not know North Korea’s stance (on the longer-period meeting idea),’’ he said. ``But I believe our intention will be fully delivered to the North Korean delegates through various channels before the official beginning of the talks.’’

No closing date was given with speculation high that it would be an ``open-ended’’ conference that could last even one month.

Washington also implied that it is ready to continue talks in Beijing. ``I would say that we’re prepared to remain at the table as long as it proves useful,’’ Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman of the State Department, said at a press briefing in Washington, D.C. on July 19.

U.S. President George W. Bush reconfirmed that Washington is committed to solving the North Korean nuclear issue in a diplomatic way.

``We’re pleased that the six-party talks has become renewed, and that we’re sincere about working with China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to bring some common sense to the leader of North Korea,’’ Bush said.

The six countries have held three rounds of inconclusive talks in Beijing between August 2003 and June 2004 with an aim of ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

im@koreatimes.co.kr