Chinese premier greeted by N. Korean leader Kim in Pyongyang

(ATTN: UPDATES report on meeting with N.K. premier, English version of Rodong Sinmun
editorial)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao began a three-day visit to
North Korea Sunday, a trip that outside officials believe is expected to spur
Pyongyang to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks it quit earlier this
year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il personally greeted the Chinese premier, who
arrived at Sunan Airport outside Pyongyang, the capital, the North's Korean
Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Kim "greeted Wen Jiabao at the airport," the KCNA said in a brief report,
monitored in Seoul.
China's Xinhua News Agency also reported Wen's arrival in Pyongyang, saying that
he later signed "a series of agreements on cooperation" with his North Korean
counterpart, Kim Yong-il.
Wen's trip comes as part of celebrations marking the 60th anniversary this year
of diplomatic relations between the two ideological allies. The North's premier
attended similar celebrations in Beijing in March.
Wen's trip is drawing keen attention from the capitals of South Korea, the United
States, Japan and other regional players hoping that it could lead to North Korea
rejoining the suspended six-party talks on its nuclear program.
North Korea quit the negotiating forum in April in protest of U.N. sanctions
imposed on it for its long-range missile tests. The country drew stricter U.N.
sanctions for its second nuclear test in May.
But the North's leader said during a meeting with a visiting Chinese envoy, Dai
Bingguo, in September that his regime was willing to resolve the nuclear standoff
"through bilateral or multilateral talks."
North Korea has been insisting on one-on-one talks with the U.S. on its nuclear
program. Washington, which had demanded that North Korea first return to the
talks, is now considering direct talks to push disarmament talks forward.
U.S. special envoy on North Korea Stephen Bosworth is likely to decide whether to
visit North Korea for bilateral talks, depending on the outcome of Wen's trip
there.
Wen is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since Chinese
President Hu Jintao traveled there in 2005.
Diplomatic sources in Seoul said North Korea may likely make an "important
announcement" at the end of Wen's stay, raising hope for the revival of the
six-party talks. The other parties involved in the dialogue forum are South
Korea, Japan and Russia.
North Korea's media attached special significance to Wen's visit, hailing it as
opening a "new chapter" in bilateral relations. China fought on North Korea's
side in the 1950-53 Korean War and is still the biggest donor to the impoverished
country.
"His visit goes to clearly prove that the Chinese party and government attach
great importance to the Sino-DPRK (North Korea) friendship," the North's main
newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in an editorial.
The trip "gives great encouragement to the Korean people working hard to build a
great prosperous" nation and will "register a new chapter in the history of the
DPRK-China friendship," said the editorial, reported by the North's Central
Broadcasting Station.
Wen was accompanied on the trip by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Wang Jiarui,
head of the Chinese communist party's international department, and Wu Dawei,
China's chief envoy to the nuclear negotiations, Xinhua said.
Kim last appeared at the Pyongyang airport in October 2007 to greet Nong Duc
Manh, secretary general of Vietnam's Communist Party. Kim is widely believed to
have suffered a stroke in August last year, but now appears to be healthy and
firmly in charge of the country.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)