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Chinese official visits NKorea, prospect of Kim appearance
Seoul (AFP) Jan 22, 2009 A senior Chinese official is visiting North Korea, state media said, raising the prospect of Kim Jong-Il making his first appearance before foreign media since reportedly suffering a stroke. The visit by Wang Jiarui, who has met the North Korean leader on all his recent trips to Pyongyang, coincides with the inauguration of the new US administration. "Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Thursday met and had a friendly talk with the delegation of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, led by its head Wang Jiarui," Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The head of the (Chinese) delegation said that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the DPRK (North Korea)," KCNA said. "The friendly relations between the two parties and the two countries... are steadily growing stronger," Wang was quoted as saying by KCNA. Since Kim's reported stroke in August, state media has published dozens of undated photos of him inspecting military installations or factories in an apparent attempt to show he is fit and in control. But he has not appeared before foreign media since last summer. "Considering his position, it is possible for Wang to meet Chairman Kim Jong-Il and he will be able to check his health condition," Paik Hak-Soon, of the Sejong Institute think-tank, told Yonhap news agency. Paik said Wang was also expected to deliver a message from Beijing -- "that it is much more optimistic with the Obama administration than Bush's, and that it'd be in North Korea's interest to cooperate in the nuclear negotiations." The North has given conflicting signals on whether it plans to push ahead with denuclearisation under the new Barack Obama administration. Last Saturday the foreign ministry, staking out a tough position, said Pyongyang may not give up its nuclear weapons even after establishing diplomatic ties with Washington. It said the US "nuclear threat" must first be lifted completely. But a New Year policy-setting editorial carried none of the customary criticism of the United States. And state media Wednesday reported the presidential inauguration less than a day after the ceremony, more quickly than on previous occasions. The North in 2007 signed a disarmament pact with the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China. But progress is stalled by disagreements over how its declared nuclear activities should be verified. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Pyongyang Says Nuclear Issue Can Be Solved
Seoul (AFP) Jan 22, 2009A pro-Pyongyang newspaper on Thursday urged the new US administration to move swiftly to end disputes over North Korea's nuclear programmes, saying the issue can be solved. |
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