BEIJING, Oct 30: China and North Korea agreed in principle on Thursday to continue six-party talks to settle the crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme during a visit by China’s number two leader, Wu Bangguo, to the North.
But Pyongyang demanded its concerns be addressed at the same time as those raised by the United States.
“China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed in principle here Thursday to continue the process of six-party talks,” the official Xinhua news agency said in a dispatch from Pyongyang.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between Mr Wu — China’s second ranking politician and head of its legislature — and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il on the second day of the highest-level Chinese mission to the country in two years.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed the Xinhua report.
“The DPRK side expressed its willingness to take part in the future talks if they provide a process of putting into practice the proposal for a package solution based on the principle of simultaneous actions,” a KCNA report said.
“To this end both sides agreed in principle to pursue the course of the six-way talks.”
By requesting “simultaneous actions”, Pyongyang is insisting its demands be met at the same time as Washington’s.
North Korea wants the United States to provide a security guarantee with economic aid to the communist country, while Washington wants a complete and verifiable dismantlement of the North’s nuclear programme.
A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said last week the nuclear crisis could be resolved if the North’s proposal for “a package solution based on the principle of simultaneous actions is realized”.
China on Thursday also emphasized the need to resolve the concerns of North Korea and the United States simultaneously, Xinhua said.
Mr Wu’s visit comes amid optimism that North Korea will agree to once again sit down with the United States in a six-party format to resolve the year-long nuclear crisis.
A first round of talks in Beijing in August brought together the United States, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas but ended without agreement and with no date fixed for a second round.
China’s foreign ministry and state media said on Thursday Wu had “repeatedly” told North Korean leaders, including Kim Yong-Nam, the North Korean No 2, that talks were the only avenue to resolve the crisis.
“The nuclear issue is very complicated. However, no matter how difficult it would be, or what turns and twists it may go through, adherence to dialogue should be the only correct direction in resolving the issue,” Mr Wu told Kim Yong-Nam on Wednesday.
Since the first round of talks, Pyongyang has tried to exclude Japan from future multilateral discussions, but the other parties involved had opposed this.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said on Thursday Mr Wu’s mission was progressing “very well” and said Beijing hoped to see a resumption of talks “as soon as possible”.
Mr Wu met North Korean Premier Pak Bong Ju on Thursday and pledged to “continue to provide assistance” for the country’s development, Xinhua said.
China is the North’s closest ally and aid donor and has long stressed that it wants a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, conscious of what a nuclear-armed North could mean for Chinese security and influence.
The KCNA said Mr Wu had informed Pyongyang that China intended to provide aid grants to North Korea.
“This will encourage the Korean people in their efforts to build a great prosperous powerful nation,” KCNA said.
Wu told North Korean officials the new Chinese leadership, installed in March, will make unremitting efforts to develop friendly ties with North Korea and extended an invitation from President Hu Jintao for Kim Jong-Il to visit China, Xinhua said.
Mr Kim said he hoped to visit China again, Xinhua said.
The renewed hope for another round of talks has been fuelled mainly by a surprise statement from Pyongyang on Saturday that it was ready to consider an offer by US President George Bush to provide a written security guarantee in return for an end to its nuclear weapons programme.
The crisis erupted in October last year, when Washington said the North had admitted running a secret uranium-enrichment programme in violation of a 1994 accord with the United States. —AFP
