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N Korea head 'meets China envoy' N Korea's Kim meets China envoy
(about 14 hours later)
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il has met a visiting Chinese envoy, China's Xinhua news agency reports. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has met a visiting Chinese envoy, Chinese and North Korean media report.
Wang Jiarui, a senior Chinese Communist Party official, met Kim Jong-il on a visit to the capital, Pyongyang. The meeting with Wang Jiarui was Mr Kim's first reported meeting with a foreign dignitary for six months.
The North Korea leader suffered a suspected stroke in August, since when he has not appeared at any major events. The reclusive leader, 66, suffered a suspected stroke in August, and has not appeared at any major events since.
Photographs of the 66-year-old visiting factories and farms have been released, but they have been undated. Mr Kim said he wanted a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, and was willing to work with China to push forward a six-party process, Chinese media said.
The meeting with Mr Wang is Mr Kim's first reported meeting with a foreign dignitary since August. Mr Wang - a senior Chinese Communist Party official who has reportedly met Mr Kim several times in the past, visited the North Korean leader in the capital, Pyongyang.
Chinese media said Mr Wang has met Mr Kim several times in the past. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is committed to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and hopes to live in peace with all other sides," the Xinhua news agency quoted Mr Kim as saying.
"We don't want to see tension emerge in the situation on the peninsula, and we are willing to strengthen co-ordination and co-operation with China and push forward the six-party process without interruption."
The six-party talks include North and South Korea, China, the US, Japan and Russia.
Succession muddleSuccession muddle
Speculation about who might replace Mr Kim as North Korea's leader peaked recently with conflicting Japanese and South Korean media reports suggesting Mr Kim's eldest son and third son respectively. Photographs of Mr Kim visiting factories and farms have been released in recent months, but they have been undated.
Speculation about who might replace North Korea's leader peaked recently with conflicting Japanese and South Korean media reports suggesting Mr Kim's eldest son and third son respectively. We will never do such a thing as showing our nuclear weapons first even in 100 years unless the US hostile policy and nuclear threat to the DPRK are fundamentally terminated North Korean spokesman
Other suggestions have included Mr Kim's military intelligence chief and his brother-in-law.Other suggestions have included Mr Kim's military intelligence chief and his brother-in-law.
Mr Kim inherited the leadership from his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.Mr Kim inherited the leadership from his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.
The reclusive state's leadership is being watched closely as a new administration in the US comes into office.The reclusive state's leadership is being watched closely as a new administration in the US comes into office.
Six-party talks, involving the US, China, Russia, South Korea, Japan and North Korea have stalled over US concerns about how to verify the North's past nuclear activities, including the US demand that North Korea disclose its full nuclear arsenal. North Korea has described reports of Mr Kim's stroke, from foreign intelligence agencies, as a "whopping lie".
Six-party talks have stalled over US concerns about how to verify the North's past nuclear activities, including the US demand that North Korea disclose its full nuclear arsenal.
A South Korean nuclear envoy visited North Korea earlier this month.A South Korean nuclear envoy visited North Korea earlier this month.
A North Korean spokesman recently insisted it would not show all its nuclear weapons unless a simultaneous verification took place in South Korea.A North Korean spokesman recently insisted it would not show all its nuclear weapons unless a simultaneous verification took place in South Korea.
"We will never do such a thing as showing our nuclear weapons first even in 100 years unless the US hostile policy and nuclear threat to the DPRK are fundamentally terminated," the spokesman said."We will never do such a thing as showing our nuclear weapons first even in 100 years unless the US hostile policy and nuclear threat to the DPRK are fundamentally terminated," the spokesman said.
Observers note that while the North may be sending a strong message to President Barack Obama in Washington, it is not necessarily hostile.Observers note that while the North may be sending a strong message to President Barack Obama in Washington, it is not necessarily hostile.
They recently noted the unusual lack of criticism directed at the US in the North's New Year message.They recently noted the unusual lack of criticism directed at the US in the North's New Year message.