N. Korean leader meets with Chinese premier

SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held talks with China's
visiting premier on Monday, a Chinese report said, in a highly anticipated
meeting many hope would break Pyongyang's nuclear standoff with the outside
world.
Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Pyongyang a day earlier on a three-day visit to
attend celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of China-North Korea diplomatic
relations.
Wen held "talks with top DPRK (North Korea) leader Kim Jong-il Monday night,"
Xinhua News Agency said.
In a meeting with Wen on Sunday, North Korean Premier Kim Yong-il said his
country was committed to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and willing to hold
multilateral as well as bilateral talks to resolve the atomic standoff.
North Korea quit the six-party denuclearization talks in April in protest to U.N.
sanctions over its long-range rocket launch, which was largely viewed as a test
of its ballistic missile technology. The country drew sharper U.N. sanctions with
its nuclear test in May.
The six-party forum involves the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and
host China.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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