N. Korea sends military delegation to China amid signs of thaw in nuclear talks

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead to clarify time element; ADDS detail on chief delegate
in last para; TRIMS)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said it sent a military delegation led by
a confidant of leader Kim Jong-il to China on Tuesday, signaling a widening thaw
in talks over its nuclear arms programs.
"A military delegation led by Vice Minister of the People's Armed Forces Pak
Jae-gyong left Pyongyang to visit China," the official Korean Central News Agency
said in a Korean-language dispatch. It did not elaborate.
The trip comes days after Kim met with China's presidential envoy, Dai Bingguo,
in Pyongyang and reportedly said he was open to both bilateral and multilateral
talks on his country's nuclear arms programs.
The meeting highlighted China's role as a mediator between North Korea and the
United States, currently deadlocked in six-party talks aimed at compensating
Pyongyang for its nuclear dismantlement.
North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006 and its second in
May this year. It abandoned the six-nation talks -- which also include China,
Japan, Russia and South Korea -- after the United Nations condemned it for its
April rocket launch that was considered a thinly disguised test of a long-range
ballistic missile.
Pak, 76, is one of the highest-ranking military officials in North Korea. Having
visited Beijing as head of a military delegation on several occasions, Pak
accompanied Kim during his rare visit to China in 2001.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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