(6th LD) N. Korean leader says nuclear talks should move forward: report

(ATTN: UPDATES headline, lead, throughout with N. Korean leader's denuclearization
pledge)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said Friday that he
wants to push stalled talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear drive forward,
Chinese state media said, as Kim met with his first foreign guest following his
suspected stroke last summer.
Kim also accepted Chinese President Hu Jintao's invitation to visit China, Xinhua
news agency said, as a visiting Chinese party official delivered Hu's letter to
Kim.
"The North Korean side will commit itself to the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula, and hopes to co-exist peacefully with other involved parties," the
report said.
North Korean media confirmed Kim's meeting with the Chinese official, Wang
Jiarui, and released still photos, in which Kim appeared to have slightly lost
weight, but looked active.
In his trademark quasi-military suit, Kim shook hands with the Chinese official,
held out his hands to receive what appeared to contain Hu's letter and held up a
wine glass, smiling broadly at a luncheon.
Kim's visit with a foreign guest, the first since June, suggests he is now well
enough to govern, watchers said.
"North Korea is not willing to see tensions emerge on the peninsula and is
willing to strengthen consultation and cooperation with China to push forward the
six-party talks," Kim was quoted as saying.
The nuclear talks grouping the Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and
Russia, are virtually on hold until U.S. President Barack Obama rolls out his
North Korea policy. The latest round of the talks in December broke down due to a
dispute over how to verify North Korea's past nuclear activities.
Pyongyang hopes to start anew with the Obama government after eight years of
largely frayed relations with Washington. In an apparent move to draw Obama's
attention, North Korea said last week it would hold onto its nuclear weapons
until it feels safe from U.S. military forces stationed in South Korea.
Obama has said on his campaign trail he is willing to meet with Kim to help
terminate Pyongyang's nuclear program. In his swearing-in ceremony, Obama vowed
to work with "old allies and former foes" to lessen the nuclear threat.
Kim's meeting with Wang hinted he is capable of meeting Obama, putting
speculation of his ill health to rest.
Wang, chief of the international department in the Chinese Communist Party's
central committee, arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, raising speculation his
trip may provide an outside account on Kim's health.
Speculation over Kim's poor condition swirled after he did not attend an
important anniversary event for the Workers' Party in September. Kim's health has
drawn keen attention as he has not publicly named a successor.
"Common sense would say that Chairman Kim's health condition seems to be normal,
as he met with a foreign guest," Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim
Ho-nyoun said.
The Chinese report said Hu invited Kim to visit China once again. Kim last
traveled China in early 2005.
"Kim gladly accepted the invitation, saying his country has always highly valued
its ties with China," the report said.
Paik Hak-soon, a senior fellow with the Sejong Institute, an independent think
tank in Seoul, said China will try to push North Korea to disarm.
Through Wang's visit, Beijing will try to say that "it is much more optimistic
with the Obama administration than Bush's, and that it would be in North Korea's
interest to cooperate in nuclear negotiations," Paik said.
Trips by Wang have usually coincided with important events in North Korea. The
North Korean leader met Wang in January 2004, shortly before Kim's rare visit to
China, and again in February 2005, shortly after North Korea declared its
possession of nuclear weapons. Wang's latest trip in January 2008 came ahead of
the inauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
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