Seoul welcomes N. Korean leader's remarks on nukes

(ATTN: UPDATES from 3rd para)
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday welcomed a comment by North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il that he wants to push forward with the six-party
denuclearization talks.

In a meeting with a visiting Chinese official last week, Kim said he does not
want to raise tension on the Korean Peninsula and hopes to work with China to
advance the six-way negotiations, according to Chinese state media.
"If he made the remarks as reported, we view them positively," Kim Ho-nyoun,
spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry handling North Korea affairs,
told reporters in Seoul's first official response to the remarks.
Kim Jong-il was quoted by China's Xinhua news agency as saying, "The North Korean
side will commit itself to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and
hopes to co-exist peacefully with other involved parties." He made the comments
during a meeting with Wang Jiarui, a senior official of China's Communist Party,
according to the wire service.
Military tension on the peninsula spiked following a recent threat issued by
Pyongyang that it would take "an all-out confrontational posture" against the
South. Many saw the move as an attempt to soften South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak's hardline stance against North Korea.
"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.
Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency did not include Kim's remarks on
the six-party talks or inter-Korean relations, but instead focused on comments
related to bilateral ties with China. The two countries will celebrate 60 years
of diplomatic relations this year.
Kim's appearance, the first to a foreign guest since he reportedly suffered a
stroke in August, suggests he is now well enough to govern, observers said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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