South Korean chief negotiator to the six-party talks Chun Yung-woo said in Beijing on Thursday the talks will extend to Friday morning.

 

Chun told reporters at South Korea's press center for the talks that China is preparing a draft chairman's statement and the meetings will extend to Friday morning.

 

He said Thursday's heads of delegation meeting began at 10:00 AM. Prior to the meeting, South Korea and Chinese top negotiators had a consultation, and in the afternoon, several bilateral meetings were held.

 

"Thursday's meeting has more practical atmosphere compared with the previous day, which mainly discussed the details of the plan of complete disablement of nuclear facilities in North Korea," said Chun, adding the six parties made their proposals frankly.

 

He said there had been a lot of discussions on setting a timetable for the disablement during the two days' meeting, but given the complexity of the problem, it was hard for the meeting to reach an agreement on it.

 

Another senior South Korean official told the press Thursday three working groups' meetings may be held in August, including the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the Economy and Energy Cooperation and the Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism working groups.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2007)