China announces table line-up of six-party talk
( 2003-08-22 07:38) (Agencies)
Host China announced the line-up for next week's talks on North Korea's
nuclear program on Thursday, saying North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim
Yong-il would lead Pyongyang's negotiating team.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim was relatively junior among eight
North Korean vice foreign ministers, but had worked closely with China in
arranging the six-party talks.
China's Foreign Ministry said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly
would represent Washington while Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Beijing's point
man on North Korea, would lead the Chinese delegation.
Russia's envoy would be Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, Japan's
would be Foreign Ministry official Mitoji Yabunaka and South Korea's Deputy
Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck, spokesman Kong Quan said in a statement on the
Foreign Ministry Web site, www.fmprc.gov.cn.
Yonhap said Kim took on his post in 2000, and had been working on Asian
affairs for two years.
The other negotiators have all been key players in the diplomatic shuttling
aimed at ending the 10-month crisis over North Korea's suspected nuclear
program. The three days of talks begin in Beijing on
Wednesday.
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