Mitoji Yabunaka, director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, arrived Tuesday afternoon in Beijing for the third round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.  

Heading the Japanese delegation, Yabunaka said he hoped to make efforts to gain some achievements in the third round of six-party talks, scheduled to open Wednesday afternoon.

The head of the delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea arrived Monday while heads of the delegations from Russia, the Republic of Korea and the United States arrived Tuesday separately.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhang Qiyue said the second working group meeting of the six-party talks ended Tuesday in Beijing.

Zhang said the six parties have, on the basis of the first working group meeting last month, continued exchanging in-depth views on building a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula and freezing nuclear facilities as well as corresponding measures.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2004)