Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon called on Wednesday for the earliest holding of a new round of six-party talks on the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).  

During their telephone conversation, the two foreign ministers also advocated insurance of a nuclear-free status on the Korean Peninsula, Russian Foreign Ministry said.

They confirmed their mutual desire to achieve a settlement of the issue by peaceful means of negotiation, taking into account the interests of all participants in the dialogue.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov also said on Wednesday that Moscow hopes to resume the negotiation process on the nuclear standoff on the peninsula as soon as possible, "since there is no other way for settling the North Korea (DPRK) issue," the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Yakovenko noted that he had discussed the issue with Japanese officials early this week and Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka expressed that "a new round of six-party talks could be held in February."

The first round of six-party talks, which were held in Beijing last August among China, the DPRK, the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan, ended without a clear breakthrough. The concerning parties are trying to make the new round of nuclear talks come as soon as possible.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2004)