ID :
104810
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 15:19
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/104810
The shortlink copeid
Chinese official to visit N. Korea on mission to resume nuclear talks
(ATTN: RECASTS headline; UPDATES with remarks, additional information, details)
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- A senior official of China's Community Party is set
to visit North Korea next week on an apparent mission to help resume stalled
negotiations on ending the North's nuclear programs, informed sources here said
Friday.
Wang Jiarui, the head of the party's international department, is expected to
visit Pyongyang and meet with the North Korean leader next week, the sources
said.
"Wang's trip to Pyongyang can be seen as part of a regular exchange of visits for
New Year's greetings, but it may bring significant changes to the six-party
talks," a source said, asking not to be identified.
The Chinese official visited North Korea in January last year as part of that
regular exchange of visits.
Wang's expected meeting with Kim will be closely watched because it may lead to
the North's announcement of its return to the nuclear negotiations, also attended
by South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.
Wang may also speak with Kim about the possibility of the North Korean leader
visiting China.
North Korea has boycotted the nuclear negotiations since late 2008, but the North
Korean leader told China's visiting Premier Wen Jiabao last year that his country
may return to the talks following its bilateral dialogue with the United States.
A special U.S. representative for North Korea policy, Stephen Bosworth, visited
Pyongyang in December, but Pyongyang has yet to declare its return to the
six-party talks.
Observers believed Pyongyang will do so following Kim's anticipated trip to China
to win economic concessions from its communist ally.
The North Korean leader was widely expected to visit China at the beginning of
the year, but the sources said a trip is only possible after an invitation from
the Chinese Communist Party as Kim, head of the National Defense Commission, does
not hold any official title in the North's Cabinet.
Wang, said to be tasked with delivering such invitations, was on a 12-day trip to
Africa late last month.
(END)
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- A senior official of China's Community Party is set
to visit North Korea next week on an apparent mission to help resume stalled
negotiations on ending the North's nuclear programs, informed sources here said
Friday.
Wang Jiarui, the head of the party's international department, is expected to
visit Pyongyang and meet with the North Korean leader next week, the sources
said.
"Wang's trip to Pyongyang can be seen as part of a regular exchange of visits for
New Year's greetings, but it may bring significant changes to the six-party
talks," a source said, asking not to be identified.
The Chinese official visited North Korea in January last year as part of that
regular exchange of visits.
Wang's expected meeting with Kim will be closely watched because it may lead to
the North's announcement of its return to the nuclear negotiations, also attended
by South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.
Wang may also speak with Kim about the possibility of the North Korean leader
visiting China.
North Korea has boycotted the nuclear negotiations since late 2008, but the North
Korean leader told China's visiting Premier Wen Jiabao last year that his country
may return to the talks following its bilateral dialogue with the United States.
A special U.S. representative for North Korea policy, Stephen Bosworth, visited
Pyongyang in December, but Pyongyang has yet to declare its return to the
six-party talks.
Observers believed Pyongyang will do so following Kim's anticipated trip to China
to win economic concessions from its communist ally.
The North Korean leader was widely expected to visit China at the beginning of
the year, but the sources said a trip is only possible after an invitation from
the Chinese Communist Party as Kim, head of the National Defense Commission, does
not hold any official title in the North's Cabinet.
Wang, said to be tasked with delivering such invitations, was on a 12-day trip to
Africa late last month.
(END)
