By Bomi Lim Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said he remained committed to giving up the country’s nuclear weapons program as diplomatic efforts intensified to end a 14-month hiatus in multilateral disarmament talks. Kim yesterday reiterated the “persistent stance to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” China’s state- run Xinhua news agency reported from Pyongyang today. The report came after Kim met Wang Jiarui , who is leading a visiting delegation from the Communist Party of China. Wang delivered Kim a verbal message from Chinese President Hu Jintao , and the two officials had “a cordial and friendly conversation,” North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported earlier today. Kim didn’t mention if North Korea would return to the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program, which last convened in December 2008. Kim Kye Gwan , the North’s chief negotiator to the nuclear talks, was seen arriving at Beijing’s airport today, South Korea’s Yonhap News agency reported. China is the host country of the negotiations, which also involve Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. United Nations envoy Lynn Pascoe also began a four-day trip to Pyongyang today in the world body’s first high-level visit to North Korea since 2004. Pascoe, under-secretary-general for political affairs, will hold “comprehensive talks on all issues of mutual interest and concern,” the UN said yesterday in a statement on its Web site. U.S. President Barack Obama ’s special envoy, Stephen Bosworth , traveled to Pyongyang in December when North Korean officials agreed on the need to resume nuclear talks. Kim’s regime has since said it will return to negotiations only after UN Security Council sanctions are removed. The UN tightened sanctions against North Korea last year after its tests of a second nuclear device and missiles. To contact the reporter on this story: Bomi Lim in Seoul at blim30@bloomberg.net
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Kim Jong Il Repeats North Korea’s Commitment to Giving Up Nuclear Weapons
