Fourth Round of Six-Party Talks: Afternoon Transit St. Regis

(Japanese Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae was with A/S Hill during these comments.)

A/S HILL: We’re just having some discussions about where we are in the process today, our deputies are locked in a room at the negotiations going through the text. It’s obviously taking a number of hours just to go through the text and determine where the differences are. Presumably, when the process is done the heads of delegation will have a look at it. In the meantime we’re just staying in very close contact between the U.S. and Japanese delegations and so we’re off to have a coffee and keep doing that.

QUESTION: When is this meeting going to be, on the heads of delegation meeting? Do you expect that to happen today?

AMBASSADOR SASAE: No, I don’t think so. Basically they will continue to have their own discussions throughout the day.

QUESTION: What are the main differences at this point, is it the elements or the sequences or…?

A/S HILL: At this point they’re just going through the text, and everyone has a somewhat different mark-up of the text, so at this point it’s really too early to say what the main differences are.

[One-half hour later]

QUESTION: Have you had any meetings with the North Koreans?

A/S HILL: No, I haven’t had any meetings with the North Koreans.

QUESTION: Are you planning to?

A/S HILL: Don’t have anything planned today. But there’s a lot of work going on back at the conference center, a lot of drafting work, and they’re trying to work on the text – bracketing language for their differences. So, it’s a very lengthy, difficult process. Makes your jobs look easy by comparison. OK, we’ll see you all later, goodbye.