SINGAPORE, July 23, SPA -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Ricemet North Korea's top diplomat here Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Rice and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun smiledfor photos as they greeted each other and theircounterparts from the four other nations _ China, Japan,Russia and South Korea. The diplomats wereaccompanied by dozens of aides. «I think this is quite significant, » said ChineseForeign Minister Yang Jiechi. «It shows the six partieshave the political will to move forward with the six-partytalks process. » «We should all continuously contribute to the progress ofthis process, » Yang added. «When we look back we findthat because of this spirit of mutual benefit and win-winprogress we have been able to overcome quite a fewdifficulties and we have completed the implementation ofthe initial phase. » Yang said the parties had made «major headway» inobtaining verifiable accounting of North Korea's nuclearprogram.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/576229