New York - Formal talks on a permanent peace treaty for the divided Korean Peninsula will begin on December 9th in Geneva, officials from the United States, China and the two Koreas announced yesterday.
"I am pleased with the agreement reached today in New York to begin preliminary talks to achieve a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula," President Clinton added in a statement in Washington. "There is a lot of hard work ahead but this is an important first step and the United States is prepared to be a full partner in helping the Korean people build a future of peace."
North Korea has hesitated for months about attending the four-country peace talks aimed at producing a treaty to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean war. The announcement came out of preliminary talks here among North and South Korea, China and the United States.
The meeting was the third formal gathering of senior officials from all four countries to discuss a formal agenda for the Geneva talks.