China works to narrow differences at six-way talks

By Lee Chi-dong
BEIJING, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- China said Thursday that it was still trying to
narrow differences among parties in the six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear
program.
"The talks are still under way," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a
press conference. "Each party is making efforts to reach a common understanding."
This week's talks were initially scheduled to end on Wednesday but were extended
into Thursday after Pyongyang refused to accept a demand by the U.S. and its
allies to allow international inspectors to take samples from its nuclear
facilities to verify its recent nuclear claims.
A South Korean delegate said that China, which chairs the negotiations, was
working on a document to sum up the results of the talks.
"I think the talks will end today anyway," he said on condition of anonymity.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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