U.S. informally confirms start of 6-party talks next week

The United States unofficially confirmed Monday that the six-party nuclear talks will resume Feb. 8 in the Chinese capital.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he would not formally verify the date but said the chief U.S. negotiator to the talks, Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill, "has a plane ticket for on or about Feb. 8 in Beijing."

Officials of other involved governments had mentioned the same date.

The nuclear negotiations, involving South and North Korea, China, the U.S., Russia and Japan, would pick up from the last session in December when Washington proposed a "package" approach to eliminating Pyongyang's atomic weapons and programs. The North is expected to come back to the next round with its response to the proposals that set out required actions with incentives by member states.

A U.S. Treasury team was already in Beijing for financial working-level discussions with North Korean officials, addressing punitive measures the U.S. imposed on a Macau bank accused of laundering money for Pyongyang.

North Korea has insisted that the measures be lifted before it engages in nuclear talks.

Daniel Glaser, the head of the Treasury team, said in Beijing the resolution of financial issues would be a "long-term process."

Washington, Jan. 29 (Yonhap News)