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Report: Kim Has No Plans for Second Nuclear Test, Regrets First Test
Friday, October 20, 2006
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BEIJING — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il told a visiting Chinese delegation that the communist nation didn't plan to conduct additional nuclear tests, a news report said Friday.
Kim told Chinese envoy Tang Jiaxuan that "we have no plans for additional nuclear tests," Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in Beijing.
Kim also expressed regret about his country's nuclear test to the delegation and said Pyongyang would return to nuclear talks if Washington backs off from its financial sanctions, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday.
"If the U.S. makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks," Kim was quoted as telling a Chinese envoy, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo reported, citing a diplomatic source in China.
Click here for FOXNews.com's North Korea Center.
Kim told the Chinese delegation that "he is sorry about the nuclear test," the newspaper reported.
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Life in North Korea
The delegation led by State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met Kim on Thursday and returned to Beijing later that day — ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival in the Chinese capital Friday.
China is viewed as a key nation in efforts to persuade the North to disarm, as it is the isolated communist nation's main trading partner.
Rice and China's foreign minister called for resumed talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program and appealed to the North for restraint amid fears it might conduct a second nuclear test.
Rice and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said they agreed on enforcing U.N. sanctions imposed for the North's Oct. 9 nuclear test. But they gave no indication they agreed on tougher measures. China has been reluctant to push its isolated ally too hard for fear it might collapse.
"We hope all relevant parties will maintain coolheadedness, adopt a responsible approach and adhere to peaceful dialogue as the main approach," Li said at a joint appearance before reporters.
Rice flew to Beijing after visiting Tokyo and Seoul on a regional tour to lobby for support in enforcing U.N. sanctions imposed on the North last week. She said she and Li discussed the importance of enforcing the sanctions to prevent "trade in illegal materials, dangerous materials."
"We also talked about the importance of leaving open a path to negotiations through the six-party talks," Rice said. The talks, which include the United States, the two Koreas, host China, Japan and Russia, have been stalled since late 2005.
North Korea has long insisted that the U.S. desist from a campaign to sever its ties to the international financial system. Washington accuses Pyongyang of complicity in counterfeiting and money laundering to sell weapons of mass destruction.
The North has refused since last November to return to the nuclear talks, which also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Pyongyang has sought bolster its negotiating position by a series of provocative actions, test-firing a barrage of missiles in July and performing its first-ever nuclear test Oct. 9.
CountryWatch: North Korea
Also Friday, employees of Chinese banks said they have suspended financial transactions to North Korea under orders from Beijing. China is the North's main trading partner, and the step could be a serious blow to its frail economy.
In Seoul, Rice said it was up to each country to decide how to comply with the U.N. sanctions approved after the Oct. 9 test. China and South Korea have balked at inspecting cargo on ships sailing to and from the North. Beijing said that could unnecessarily provoke Pyongyang.
The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter U.S. aggression.
The United States has repeatedly said it does not intend to attack the North.
The two Koreas are technically at war, since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire.
The North's test challenges U.S.-South Korean ties, long strained by differences about how to deal with Pyongyang. The U.S. wants a tougher line, while Seoul is reluctant to inflame tensions.
Rice has reassured Seoul that the U.S. will defend the country if the North attacks. She brought a similar message to Japan, her first stop on a four-day trip devoted mostly to talks on the nuclear crisis.
Click here for FOXNews.com's North Korea Center.
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Originally Posted by homintern
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