Chinese envoy meets Pyongyang official: state radio

SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) -- A senior Chinese envoy visiting Pyongyang has met with
a top official of the North Korean Workers' Party, state media reported Sunday.
Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department, and
his delegation arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday in what many analysts believe is
a trip aimed at persuading the North to rejoin stalled six-party nuclear
disarmament talks.
Wang met with Kim Yong-il, director of the international affairs department of
the Workers' Party, in a reception hosted by the department that day, the North's
Korean Central Broadcasting Station radio said.
Also present the dinner were Kim's deputy Kim Song-nam and other party officials,
it added.
Participants toasted for the "continuous strengthening and development of the
traditional friendly ties" between the two countries, the radio station reported
without giving details.
During the four-day trip, 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 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 sanctions imposed on it over its nuclear and missile tests.
But the North Korean leader 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.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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