Chinese envoy set to visit N. Korea to resume nuclear talks: sources

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- A senior Chinese official was set to fly to North
Korea later Saturday, apparently on a mission to help resume stalled talks on
ending the North's nuclear program, informed sources in Beijing said.

Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, is
expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong -il and deliver a message from
Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The Chinese official visited North Korea in January last year as part of a
regular exchange of visits.
Wang's expected meeting with Kim will be closely watched because it may lead to
the North's return to the nuclear negotiations, also attended by South Korea, the
U.S., Japan, China and Russia.
North Korea has boycotted the nuclear talks since late 2008, but the North Korean
leader told visiting Chinese 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.
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.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)

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