About 600 reporters have registered to cover the upcoming second round of six-party talks, said a press officer of the talks in Beijing Monday.  

The press office, which opened Monday in the Diaoyutai Hotel, would host more than 170 journalists from overseas, including 103 from Japan, 42 from the Republic of Korea, 13 from the United States and five from Russia.

The office, covering about 100 square meters, is on the first floor of the hotel.

A news briefing hall on the second floor will only open for press conferences, said a spokesman.

The Diaoyutai Hotel is close to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse where the first round of talks was held and the second round of talks will begin Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2004)