"There are only one and a half years left during George W. Bush's presidency, which means that America hopes to settle the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as soon as possible," Qi said. North Korea's two requirements for the Americans will not be easily accomplished, because they need to be passed by the U.S. Congress, and it will take time for government debates to be held, he added.

Qi also said that North Korea must also cooperate efficiently with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency. This process will demands time, patience and mutual trust, he added.

High hopes

The delegation heads who participated in the July 18-20 meeting included Kim; Hill; Chun Yung Woo, South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Wu Dawei, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China; Kenichiro Sasae, Director General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Vladimir Rakhmanin, Russia's Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the meeting, the delegates reviewed their work and progress since the first session of the talks' sixth round on February 13. They said they were pleased with efforts all made to advance the process and with the bilateral meetings to boost mutual trust and improve relations with each other, according to a press communiqué issued by the Head Meeting on July 20.

The six parties also discussed the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the normalization of relations between the countries concerned, and lasting peace and stability in Northeast Asia. They also said that work during the next phase would be done on a step-by-step basis, according to the press communiqué.

During the meeting, the six parties repeated their vow to fulfill the commitments they made in a joint statement in September 2005, in which North Korea agreed to abandon its quest to become a nuclear power, and in their agreement on February 13. North Korea iterated that it would honor its commitments to declare all its nuclear programs and disable all existing nuclear facilities.

As part of the agreement on February 13, North Korea promised to close its nuclear facilities as the first steps to denuclearization, while the other parties agreed to provide oil for North Korea. They delivered the first batch of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to North Korea in early July, and the country subsequently shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facilities as promised. At the meeting on July 18-20, the envoys confirmed that they would provide further humanitarian assistance up to the equivalent of 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for North Korea.

The six parties also agreed to fulfill their respective obligations listed in the two agreements according to the "action-for-action" principle.

The delegates listed three steps to implement the various tasks they agreed on. First, before the end of August, five working groups--on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, normalizing North Korea's relations with the United States and Japan, promoting economic and energy cooperation, and establishing peace and security in Northeast Asia-will hold meetings to discuss how to implement the agreed upon plans.

Second, the parties will hold the second session of the sixth round of the six-party talks in Beijing in September, during which the delegates will hear the working groups' reports and work out the roadmap for their implementation.

And third, after the second session of talks, the parties will hold a ministerial meeting in Beijing as soon as possible to promote the implementation of the September 2005 and February 2007 agreements and explore ways to enhance security cooperation in Northeast Asia.

The six-party talks began in August 2003 as a multilateral approach to ending North Korea's nuclear program. Since then, envoys have met in Beijing for several rounds of negotiations to denuclearize North Korea.

Key Dates Before This Meeting February 13: North Korea agrees to shut down the Yongbyon reactor within 60 days in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid March 13-14: Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA's Director General, is invited to visit North Korea March 19-22: At the first phase of sixth round of the six-party talks in Beijing all parties repeat promises to implement the September 2005 joint statement and the February 2007 agreement April 11: The United States expects North Korea to fulfill the terms of the landmark nuclear deal as a key deadline approaches April 20: North Korea repeats its pledge to implement the February 2007 agreement, and says it will invite the IAEA to the country after it gets the $25 million in funds frozen in Macao's Banco Delta Asia June13: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin says the country would not oppose its banks transferring the funds. The United States promises not to impose sanctions on the Russian commercial bank involved June 25: North Korea says that its dispute over the funds has been resolved and vows to start implementing the February 13 disarmament agreement July 6: North Korea says it will start closing and sealing its nuclear facilities after it received one 10th of the 50,000 tons of promised fuel July 14: A 10-member team of IAEA inspectors arrives in Pyongyang July 18: ElBaradei confirms North Korea has shut down all five of its nuclear reactors at Yongbyon