SINGAPORE: Foreign ministers of the countries involved in the six-party talks have met in Singapore to advance negotiations for a de-nuclearised Korean Peninsula.

The meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting was highly watched and welcomed by the region. The six parties are North Korea, South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia.

North Korea said the symbolic blast of the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor is part of the sincere efforts it has been making towards the six-party talks process.

At the last meeting, North Korea has said it would work towards disabling its plutonium reactor by October and allow on-site visits by US and other foreign experts.

With that as a goal, the foreign ministers discussed ways to move ahead.

Emerging out of the meeting, North Korean spokesman Ri Tong Il said his minister hopes the meeting will be a driving force to push towards a full implementation by all parties of the September 2005 agreement.

He said: "Minister Pak further expressed the hope of the DPRK to implement its own obligation closely, following the implementation by other parties on the principles of action for action."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a good meeting where everyone confirmed the need to move rapidly to finish this phase of the de-nuclearisation process.

Looking ahead to North Korea's signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation on Thursday, ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan hopes it will impact the region positively.

Dr Surin said: "We certainly hope that it would lead to other positive developments in reducing the conflicts and tension in the region."

The meeting in Singapore is the highest level gathering of parties for the talks since they began in 2003 and it looks hopeful that this meeting has paved the way towards signing a verification mechanism for North Korea's nuclear facilities and programmes. - CNA/vm