The nations involved in the second round of six-way talks over the Korean Peninsula are hoping for substantial results this time around.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States, the major parties concerned with the six-way talks, and China, the host country, have agreed to resume the next round of six-way talks on February 25 after having a series of discussions,'' the KCNA news agency released Tuesday.

Republic of Korea (ROK) Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck, who led his nation's team during the first round of talks, was quoted by the Yonhap News Agency as saying "it may be difficult to have big expectations for a breakthrough from the (second round) talks, but the position of each party will become clearer."

Lee said that if the parties concerned can agree to form a "working group" during the second round of multilateral talks, it would be a "success." The working group of experts can handle more substantial and technical aspects of the issue, he said.

Moreover, ROK Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said the second round of six-nation talks should see more progress than the first session, reported Yonhap.

Jeong made the remarks while meeting with Kim Ryong-song, a top delegate of the DPRK team during inter-Korean ministerial talks. The DPRK delegation arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon for the four-day 13th Inter-Korean Ministerial Meeting.

Kim, the DPRK's cabinet counsellor, said during the meeting that "our agreement to the six-party talks is a product of our efforts to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully."

"It also means that our position is right and just," he added.

The date for a second round of talks was given after months of intensive shuttle diplomacy since the first six-party session ended without progress in August. The talks may be clouded by revelations that the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb had confessed to selling nuclear secrets to DPRK, as well as Libya and Iran.

Asked about the talks, Japan's top government spokesman, Yasuo Fukuda said: "I am hoping for progress. It would be good if we could resolve all the problems. "

Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov as saying Moscow had yet to receive official confirmation of the dates, but expected to be notified soon.

On Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in Tokyo that the stalemate was a "dangerous and unstable situation".

In a meeting with Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Yukio Takeuchi Tuesday, Armitage agreed that Japan, the United States and the ROK had to continue to co-operate to achieve a peaceful solution to the issue.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Tuesday:"We hope all sides involved will, in the spirit of mutual respect and equal consultation, push for substantial progress in the talks by showing the utmost sincerity and flexibility for co-operation.''

The date was fixed on the basis of consultations between all concerned parties, which include DPRK, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States, China, Japan and Russia, Zhang said.

The Chinese side is now in discussions with other parties on the details of ensuring the talks will go smoothly.

China has remained in close contact with all parties involved over a period of time, and gradually expanded their consensus in order to continue the peaceful talks process, Zhang said.

At present, all concerned parties agreed that conditions for the opening of the second round of the six-party talks are in place, she said.

As in the first round of talks, the Chinese delegation will be headed be Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi, said Zhang, but denied to disclose the identities of officials from other delegations.

The first six-party talks were held in Beijing from August 27 to 29 of last year. Participants at that time agreed to hold talks in the future to resolve the nuclear issue, sowing the seeds for the second round talks of this month.

And in late April of last year, China, the United States and the DPRK had held three-way talks in Beijing to try to resolve the standoff over the DPRK's nuclear weapons programme.

The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue became serious in January of last year, when DPRK Ambassador to the United Nations Pak Gil-yon announced the DPRK had decided to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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