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BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has said he is willing to return to six-party talks about his country's nuclear program if the conditions are "mature".
"North Korea will return to the negotiating table at any time if the conditions are mature," Kim said in a statement carried by his country's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "I hope that the U.S. shows credible sincerity and acts accordingly." The statement was quoted in a report on Kim's meeting with Chinese envoy Wang Jiarui, the head of the Chinese Communist Party's international liaisons department.
Kim said North Korea was committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and there was no change in its determination to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue. "North Korea was never opposed the six-party talks and made every possible effort for their success," he added.
In a message conveyed by Wang, Chinese President Hu Jintao said resolving the nuclear issue and North Korea's "reasonable concerns" through the six-party talks was in the fundamental interests of both Pyongyang and Beijing.
Asked in Beijing what Kim's "conditions" were, Wang Jiarui said, "More action and sincerity on the part of the authorities." The envoy added, "China made it very clear that it wants North Korea to promptly return to talks."
Chinese Ambassador on Korean Peninsula Affairs Ning Fukui, who accompanied Wang on his trip to North Korea, told reporters on his return to Beijing on Tuesday, "More effort is required on the part of the authorities to get North Korea to return to the talks. The situation is still complicated. We will continue to work for a quick restart of the six-party talks, but the strength of China alone is not enough. All concerned nations have to take responsibility."
(Cho Jung-shik, jscho@chosun.com )
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