(2nd LD) Chinese envoy arrives in N. Korea

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with North Korean news report on Wang's arrival)
BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- A senior Chinese official arrived in North Korea
Saturday, the North's media reported, in what many analysts believe is a trip
aimed at persuading Pyongyang to rejoin stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament
talks.
Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, and
his delegation arrived in Pyongyang, the North's Korean Central News Agency said
in a brief report.
During the trip which is expected to last four days, Wang is widely 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 and met Kim 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 six-nation nuclear negotiations which also involve
South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.
North Korea quit the six-party talks in April last year, angered by U.N. Security
Council sanction imposed on it over its menacing missile tests.
But the North Korean leader Kim told visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao later
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.
Also on Saturday, Lynn Pascoe, a special envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, arrived in Seoul en route to North Korea. Lynn, who serves as the U.N.
undersecretary general for political affairs, will visit the North next week for
discussions on wide-ranging topics expected to include the nuclear issue.
A former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, the 66-year-old will take a four-day trip
to Pyongyang starting Tuesday.
(END)