Kim Gye-gwan, head of the North Korean delegation to the six-party talks, said on Tuesday that his country is willing to make sincere efforts to fulfill the joint statement at the upcoming fifth-round talks.

North Korea "cherishes the joint statement formed in the previous round. We are willing to make sincere efforts at this round of talks to fulfill the spirit of the joint statement," he said.

Kim made the remarks at Pyongyang's Sun-an Airport before traveling to Beijing to attend the new round of talks aimed at resolving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, which is scheduled to start on Wednesday.

A joint statement was adopted at the fourth-round talks last month, in which North Korea agreed to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in exchange for energy aid and security guarantees.

The North Korean chief delegate said the talks have already had a clear direction, which guides the six parties -- China, the US, Japan, Russia, South and North Korea -- all the way forward like a lighthouse.

"But the lighthouse is too far away from North Korea and becomes less visible sometimes as the sea is always full of fogs," Kim said.

"An experienced seaman can conquer all the difficulties and forge forward by braving wind and waves if he has a clear objective in mind," said Chinese Ambassador Wu Donghe, who saw Kim off at the airport.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2005)