 BEIJING (AP) - Envoys to deadlocked North Korean nuclear talks will take a recess, the Chinese government announced Sunday after a record 13 days of meetings failed to bring agreement on a joint statement meant to guide future negotiations. The talks were scheduled to resume Aug. 29.
| Comes as a surprise, huh? |
A senior Chinese diplomat, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, warned that even after talks resume, ``I can't say for sure that we will reach agreement.''
The decision was announced after chiefs of delegations from the six governments met Sunday in a final attempt to agree on a joint statement of principles to guide future talks aimed at persuading North Korea to disarm.
Wu announced the suspension to reporters gathered on the lawn outside the building where the North Korean delegates were grazing talks took place. ``During the recess, the six parties will report to their respective governments and study ways to solve the differences. And they are supposed to maintain contact and consultations during that recess,'' Wu said. Wu also issued a chairman's statement that said the six parties ``reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and agreed to issue a common paper to this end.'' |