Kim Jong Il arrives in Beijing for talks with Hu+

BEIJING, May 5 Kyodo -
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived in Beijing on Wednesday and was
expected to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao later in the day, diplomatic
sources said.
Kim and Hu are expected to discuss the six-nation talks on North Korea's
nuclear programs, Chinese economic aid to Pyongyang and bilateral trade and
investment, analysts said, predicting the talks may lead to a return by
Pyongyang to the stalled denuclearization talks in exchange for sizable
economic aid from Beijing.
A motorcade believed to be carrying Kim arrived at the Great Hall of the People
around 5:30 p.m., raising speculation that Kim may attend a welcoming ceremony
or hold talks with Hu in the evening.
The motorcade stopped over at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing before
heading to the Great Hall of the People amid tight security in the area.
Kim's first visit to China in four years comes amid renewed tensions on the
Korean Peninsula in the wake of the sinking of a South Korean warship in late
March, which Seoul suspects was torpedoed by North Korea. Pyongyang has denied
any involvement in the incident.
China's top nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei has said that China, host of the talks
also involving North and South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States,
wants to resume the dialogue by the end of June.
But if Pyongyang's involvement in the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan near the
western maritime border with North Korea is confirmed, it would be difficult
for China to resume the six-way process at an early date.
Of the ship's 104 crew members, 40 have been confirmed dead and six remain
unaccounted for.
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak told Hu during a meeting in Shanghai on
Friday that the South's 50 million people ''take the incident seriously.'' Hu
expressed his condolences to the bereaved families of the victims.
Some South Korean media said Kim's third son and possible heir Kim Jong Un is
accompanying his father and may be introduced to the Chinese leadership. But
diplomatic circles in Beijing question such reports.
China is seen as wielding the largest influence on North Korea as it is the
largest provider of food and fuel aid to the traditional ally. Some describe
the two neighbors as being ''as close as lips and teeth.''
On Wednesday morning, the 68-year-old Kim Jong Il inspected harbor facilities
in Tianjin, southeast Beijing, before heading to the capital.
It is Kim's first visit to China since January 2006 and fifth since becoming
the country's top leader in 1998.
Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong in Liaoning Province by
special train early Monday. He moved to Dalian in the province by car the same
day, and left there for Tianjin aboard the train on Tuesday evening.
Kim's visits to the two port business cities of Dalian and Tianjin en route to
Beijing indicate Pyongyang's willingness to prop up the economy through trade
and investment in Rason, a special economic zone the North designated as a
special municipality in January, and other areas.
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu did not confirm or
deny Kim's visit, telling journalists she had no information at present.
Kim's trips to China in the past were confirmed only after he had returned to
North Korea.
North Korea quit the six-party talks in April 2009 in protest at the U.N.
Security Council's censure of what the country said was a rocket launch the
same month but which was seen as a long-range missile test.
In May the same year, Pyongyang fueled tensions by detonating a nuclear device
for the second time, a move that resulted in increased U.N. sanctions on the
country.
North Korea has said it wants U.N. sanctions lifted and talks with the United
States on a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War before it
rejoins the six-party talks.
==Kyodo