Ministerial-Level Korea Nuclear Talks Set for Singapore
六方会谈下周将举行部长级会议

　 
The State Department said Friday all six parties to the talks on North Korea's nuclear program will convene at the ministerial level for the first time next week in Singapore. The meeting will bring together Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her North Korean counterpart, Pak Ui Chun.

美国国务院星期五表示，参加北韩核项目问题六方会谈的各方将于下星期在新加坡首次举行部长级会议。美国国务卿赖斯和北韩外务相朴义春都将出席。

The six-party meeting, on the sidelines of an ASEAN foreign ministers dialogue in Singapore, is being described here as an informal gathering. But it will nonetheless be a significant milestone in the Chinese-organized nuclear negotiations, which have been underway since 2003.

这次六方部长级会议将在东南亚国家联盟外长在新加坡举行论坛期间召开，被称为一次非正式会议。不过，在由中国主持的北韩核项目问题六方会谈中，这次会议仍然是一个重要的里程碑。北韩核项目问题六方会谈从2003年开始举行。

North Korea agreed in principle in 2005 to give up its nuclear program in exchange for energy aid and diplomatic benefits from the other parties to the talks - the United States, Japan, Russia, South Korea and host China.

北韩2005年原则上同意放弃核项目，以换取从参加会谈的其它各方得到能源援助和外交好处，这些国家是美国、日本、俄罗斯、韩国和东道国中国。

A detailed agreement was completed last year, and the process gained momentum in late June when North Korea issued a promised declaration of its nuclear activities, and the United States begun the process of lifting sanctions against the reclusive communist state.

各方去年完成了一份协议。北韩今年6月底申报先前保证过的北韩核项目活动清单，美国启动了开始解除对这个与世隔绝的共产党国家的制裁的程序，使销毁北韩核项目的工作出现强劲的势头。

Briefing reporters, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the ministerial-level gathering will be a useful follow-on to a heads-of-delegation meeting held earlier this month in Beijing.

美国国务院发言人麦科马克在向记者介绍情况时说，这次部长级会议是这个月初北京六方会谈团长会议的继续，非常有帮助。

McCormack said the ministerial talks would be loosely structured and unlikely to produce any specific outcome. But, he said, the talks would be important in that in the wake of the North Korean declaration, the ministers will begin to chart the final phase of the process yielding a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

麦科马克说，这次部长级会议的安排比较松散，不大可能产生具体结果。不过他表示，这次会议的重要性在于，在北韩申报核项目活动清单之后，各方部长将开始为朝鲜半岛无核化进程的最后阶段制定计划。

"We have made progress up to this point, all the parties," said McCormack. "North Korea has made progress on fulfilling its commitments. We are doing so ourselves, as are the other parties to the six-party talks. And once we complete phase two, we are going to be moving to a crucial phase, phase three, and that phase ends with the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula. There are no interim steps, and that means North Korea being completely out of the nuclear business."

麦科马克说：“到目前为止，参加六方会谈的各方都取得了进展。北韩在履行承诺方面取得了进展。我们自己也在取得进展，六方会谈其它各方都在取得进展。一旦我们完成第二阶段，我们就要进入关键的阶段，就是第三阶段，这个阶段最终要实现朝鲜半岛无核化。没有什么过渡性阶段，也就是说，北韩要彻底放弃核项目。”

McCormack said there was no current plan for Rice to meet separately with her North Korean counterpart but he expects them to interact fully in the six-way session.

麦科马克说，赖斯目前没有单独会晤北韩外相的计划，不过他预计双方在六方部长会议上会充分互动。

The agreement reached last year anticipates a formal ministerial level conference and McCormack said such a meeting will still be held, and that the Singapore discussion is not a substitute for it.

去年达成的协议预定要召开一次正式的部长级会议。麦科马克说，这个会议仍然会举行，在新加坡的这次会议不会取代正式的部长级会议。

Rice is scheduled to be in Singapore next Wednesday and Thursday, on a foreign tour that takes her first to Abu Dhabi early next week for informal meetings with Gulf foreign ministers.

赖斯计划利用出访时间于下星期三和星期四到新加坡。在这次出国访问期间，她将首先于下星期早些时候到阿拉伯联合酋长国的阿布扎比出席海湾国家外长非正式会议。

After the ASEAN-related meetings in Singapore, she visits Australia and New Zealand and attends a meeting of Pacific island leaders in Samoa.

赖斯在新加坡出现与东盟有关的会议之后，将访问澳大利亚和新西兰，并且到萨摩亚出席一个太平洋岛国领导人会议。