The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea (North Korea) said yesterday that the country is willing
to return to six-party talks when conditions are ripe.
Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Central
Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, told a visiting senior
Chinese official that he wishes all sides to take enough action
with sincerity.
Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department
of the Communist Party of China (CPC), told Kim that China would
like the six-party discussions on the Korean Peninsula nuclear
issue to resume as early as possible.
Kim said North Korea adheres to its aim for a
nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and to the principle of peaceful
resolution of disputes through dialogue, saying his country "has
never opposed the six-party talks and will not withdraw from the
talks."
Wang brought Kim a message from Hu
Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China, which said that a peaceful solution to
the nuclear issue and to North Korea’s reasonable concerns via the
six-party talks conforms to the fundamental interests of both
countries.
North Korea announced on February 10 it would
indefinitely postpone the six-party talks, adding that the
unchanged hostile US policy towards it was the direct reason.
Kim highly values the efforts of the CPC and the
Chinese government in maintaining peace on the Korean
Peninsula.
Wang emphasized Chinese support for
denuclearization of the peninsula, which is in the best interests
of the North Korean people and for Chinese and regional
security.
"We wish for all sides to resolve the nuclear issue
through dialogue and pay close attention to North Korea’s
reasonable concerns," Wang said.
They reassured each other of the long-standing
friendship of the two parties and two countries.
Wang completes his four-day visit today, which also
included talks with Kim Yong-nam, president of North Korea's
Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, soon after his arrival
in Pyongyang on Saturday.
North Korea yesterday permitted the Republic of
Korea (South Korea) to conduct search operations in its territorial
waters for a missing raft, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency
reported.
The raft, with four people on board, lost contact
with maritime authorities as it sailed from Russia's far eastern
port of Vladivostok to Niigata, Japan. It was on an expedition to
follow a sea route dating from an ancient Korean kingdom.
South Korea's maritime police dispatched a light
plane to search for the raft in the East Sea (the Sea of Japan),
about 290 miles northeast of Dokdo, an island claimed by both South
Korea and Japan, Yonhap said.
(China Daily February 22, 2005)