(2nd LD) Chinese official to visit N. Korea on mission to resume nuclear talks

(ATTN: CHANGES dateline; CORRECTS party name in lead; RECASTS para 2 with full name
of N. Korean leader; UPDATES with S. Korean reaction)
BEIJING/SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- A senior official of China's Communist Party is
set to visit North Korea next week apparently on a mission to help resume stalled
talks on ending the North's nuclear program, informed sources in Beijing said
Friday.
Wang Jiarui, the head of the party's international department, is expected to
visit Pyongyang and meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il 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 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 believe Pyongyang may 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 an invitation, was on a 12-day trip to
Africa late last month.
Officials at South Korea's foreign ministry refused to confirm Wang's trip to
Pyongyang, but said such a visit could help restart the nuclear negotiations.
"If Wang visits North Korea, he will likely meet many of North Korea's ranking
officials and we believe the topics of such meetings will inevitably include the
six-party talks and North Korea's return to the negotiating table," an official
said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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