SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES BEIJING TALKS INVOLVING UNITED STATES, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA, CHINA

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES BEIJING TALKS INVOLVING UNITED STATES,

DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA, CHINA

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General welcomes reports on the forthcoming multilateral talks involving the United States, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and China in Beijing.  He is encouraged by what he hopes is the beginning of the process that would resolve diplomatically the current crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

The Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, Maurice F. Strong, will continue to lend their full support to this process, while concentrating on humanitarian and longer-term development needs of the DPRK.

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