(LEAD) N.K. nuclear negotiator heads for home from Beijing

(ATTN: UPDATES with KCNA report in paras 5-6)
BEIJING, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator left Beijing
for Pyongyang on Saturday, wrapping up his five-day trip to discuss ways to
resume the six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

Kim Kye-gwan, a vice foreign minister, left at around 1 p.m. local time aboard a
Koryo Air flight.
In Beijing, Kim held talks with Wu Dawei who was newly appointed as China's chief
nuclear envoy, on the resumption of the six-party talks and a peace treaty with
the United States.
Asked about the outcome of his meetings with Chinese officials, Kim briefly
answered reporters waiting for him at a Beijing airport: "I'll see you later."
A spokesman for the North's foreign ministry confirmed later in the day the
Kim-Wu meeting involved discussions on ways to "speed up" the denuclearization of
the Korean Peninsula.
"Both sides had an in-depth discussion on the issue of boosting DPRK (North
Korea)-China relations and matters of speeding up the denuclearization of the
peninsula through confidence building such as the conclusion of a peace treaty,
the lifting of sanctions and the resumption of the six-party talks," the unnamed
spokesman told the Korean Central News Agency, the North's official foreign news
outlet. The spokesman, however, did not give other details.
After looking closely into the results of the talks, Kim is expected to visit the
U.S. next month following a trip to Pyongyang in December by U.S. envoy Stephen
Bosworth.
North Korea says talks aimed at replacing the 1950-53 Korean War truce with a
peace treaty should be launched if it is to rejoin the stalled six-party
dialogue.
It also says U.N. sanctions imposed on it for its nuclear and missile testing
must be lifted before it returns to the talks that also group the U.S., China,
South Korea, Japan and Russia.
(END)

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