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Kim Jong-il 'backs' nuclear talks | Kim Jong-il 'backs' nuclear talks |
(about 1 hour later) | |
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is committed to ending the North's nuclear programme, Chinese state media says. | North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is committed to ending the North's nuclear programme, Chinese state media says. |
Mr Kim arrived in China on Monday, in a visit shrouded in secrecy. | Mr Kim arrived in China on Monday, in a visit shrouded in secrecy. |
State news agency Xinhua said he had told Chinese President Hu Jintao he would work with China "to create favourable conditions" for talks. | |
Six-party negotiations to dismantle the North's nuclear capability are hosted by China and involve the two Koreas, the US, Japan and Russia. | |
North Korea quit the six-party talks in April 2009, after the UN imposed sanctions for a missile test by Pyongyang. | |
"The DPRK (North Korea) is willing to work with you to create favourable conditions for a resumption of the six-party talks," China's state news agency Xinhua quoted Mr Kim as telling Mr Hu. | |
No timetable was given for a return to talks, and similar statements of intent have been attributed to Mr Kim in the past. | |
NUCLEAR CRISIS Oct 2006 - North Korea conducts an underground nuclear testFeb 2007 - North Korea agrees to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for fuel aidJune 2007 - North Korea shuts its main Yongbyon reactorJune 2008 - North Korea makes its long-awaited declaration of nuclear assetsOct 2008 - The US removes North Korea from its list of countries which sponsor terrorismDec 2008 - Pyongyang slows work to dismantle its nuclear programme after a US decision to suspend energy aidJan 2009 - The North says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South, accusing it of "hostile intent"April 2009 - Pyongyang launches a rocket carrying what it says is a communications satellite25 May 2009 - North Korea conducts a second nuclear test N Korea a problem for Obama Timeline: North Korea | |
Xinhua gave no details of any pledges of economic aid or other agreements reached between the two allies. | |
"China will, as always, support the DPRK's economic development and improving people's livelihood," Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted as telling Mr Kim in a separate meeting. | |
Mr Wen was quoted as saying that China would assist North Korea with lessons from its own economic reform process. | |
State TV footage showed Mr Kim, who is 68 years old, looking frail and thin. | |
The North Korean leader is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008. | |
Speculation over his health has fuelled uncertainty about who will succeed him and the impact on Pyongyang's nuclear capability. | |
"The leader of the DPRK received a sincere and warm welcome from Chinese people wherever he went in China," reported the North's official Korean Central News Agency. | |
"Kim Jong-il expressed satisfaction over the result of his visit." | |
This week's visit was Kim's fifth to China since succeeding his father as ruler in 1994, with the last in 2006. |