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Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator, and Christopher Hill, his U.S. counterpart, said that they reached an agreement on certain matters at bilateral talks held in Berlin on January 16 to 18. Meanwhile, Chun Young-woo, South Korea’s top negotiator in the six-party talks aimed at ending the North’s nuclear program, will visit China as early as January 22 to discuss with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei ways to resume and progress the nuclear talks, according to a high-ranking official of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Asked about the talks with Hill at Berlin’s Tegel Airport on his way back to Pyongyang, Kim said that "North Korea and the United States have reached an agreement on various matters, such as removing obstacles to the six-party talks, including U.S. financial sanctions," according to a report by Japan’s NHK news service. "We have decided to resume the nuclear talks as soon as possible," Kim was reported as saying.

On his way to China from Tokyo on January 21, part of a tour of East Asia that has already brought him to Seoul, Christopher Hill said that the U.S. had not discussed the lifting of financial sanctions, but he said that he hoped progress could be made through consultations on the matter as early as this week.

Russia-based Interfax news agency reported that the next six-nation talks are likely to open on February 6, quoting diplomatic sources. In the meantime, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon will visit China on January 25-27 to meet China’s top diplomat Li Zhaoxing, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, and Wang Jairui, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s international department.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]