Chief negotiators to the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue left Beijing on Saturday after the five-day talks ended up with little tangible progress.

"We want to make real progress, so we were a little disappointed," top US negotiator Christopher Hill said prior to his departure at the airport.

He said he will go back to Washington to prepare for the next round. As for when the session will resume, he said he hopes to come back at an early date.

The negotiator said he hopes North Korean delegation can make some decisions after going back to their capital.

North Korea's chief negotiator and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan did not make comments at the Beijing international airport before leaving for Pyongyang.

Top Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae and top negotiator of South Korea Chun Yung Woo also left Beijing on Saturday morning.

Chun reiterated at the airport that it is still necessary for the six-party talks to go onward.

The six-party talks, involving China, North Korea , the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia, recessed on Friday afternoon after issuing a chairman's statement.

"The six parties agreed to recess to report to capitals and to reconvene at the earliest opportunity," the statement said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2006)