BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The six parties to the Korean Peninsular nuclear talks held a working group meeting on economy and energy cooperation Thursday afternoon at the embassy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Beijing.

The meeting, attended by ROK chief negotiator Chun Yung Woo and officials of five other parties, mainly discussed the need of assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and other parties' intention for the assistance, sources with the ROK delegation said.

Chun said the issues discussed include DPRK's current energy situation, the fields in which five other parties could provide assistance, duration and scale of assistance, as well as technical issues such as the price conversion between heavy oil and other assistance items.

Chun said the meeting on economic and energy cooperation could start within 30 days after the February talks demonstrated the determination of all parties to carry out the Feb. 13 joint document "on process", according to the press center of the ROK delegation.

During the last round of talks, the six parties reached consensus on the initial steps to implement the joint statement.

The steps included establishing five working groups, which will discuss the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, DPRK-U.S. relations, DPRK-Japan relations, the economic and energy resources cooperation, and peace and security of northeast Asia.

Negotiators of six parties have started three working group meetings since Thursday, aiming to discuss details of ways to implement the initial steps of Sept. 19 joint statement.

Two other working groups, one on regional security, the other on disarmament, are to meet in the coming days before a full-fledged talks next Monday.

The two working groups of DPRK-U.S. relations and DPRK-Japan relations had already held their first meetings in New York and Hanoi in early March, respectively.