(2nd LD) North Korean leader meets with China's envoy

(ATTN: UPDATES with KCNA's English language report on meeting in paras 2-3)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met with China's
presidential envoy on Friday, the North's media said, as regional diplomatic
efforts are stepped up to bring Pyongyang back to denuclearization talks.

Chinese state councilor Dai Bingguo, who arrived in the North Korean capital two
days earlier as a special envoy of President Hu Jintao, delivered a "personal
letter" from Hu to Kim, said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim "expressed thanks for this and asked the special envoy to convey his regards"
to Hu, the report said. The two held talks "in an amicable atmosphere" on
relations between the two countries and "a series of issues of mutual concern,"
it said.
The report gave no further details, but the meeting comes as the United States is
considering holding direct talks with North Korea on nuclear disarmament.
On Wednesday, Dai exchanged "candid and in-depth" views with North Korea's first
vice foreign minister, Kang Sok-ju, about bilateral relations and international
issues, the KCNA said. Kang is in charge of the North's diplomacy regarding the
six-party talks aimed at ending the country's nuclear weapons program.
Dai was accompanied by Wu Dawei, China's chief envoy to the nuclear talks that
also involve South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia.
The visit came ahead of an expected trip to Pyongyang by Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao early next month to mediate envisioned one-on-one talks between North
Korea and the United States.
North Korea previously pledged to terminate its nuclear drive in exchange for
diplomatic and economic benefits from other members of the talks but quit the
forum in April in protest at U.N. sanctions imposed over its long-range rocket
test. The country conducted its second nuclear test in May, drawing stronger U.N.
sanctions.
Dai also met with Kim Yong-nam, the North's nominal No. 2 leader, on Thursday.
The two watched a classic Chinese opera reenacted by North Korean artists, "The
Dream of the Red Chamber," at the Pyongyang Grand Theater. The allies are
celebrating the 60th anniversary of their relations this year.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)