North Korean officials hold talks with Chinese Premier

(NECN/APTN) – Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met with senior North Korean officials on Sunday afternoon, after earlier being greeted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at Pyongyang airport. Wen held talks with North Korean Premier Kim Yong Il, and head of the North Korean parliament Kim Yong Nam. Wen is leading a delegation that includes Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei – China’s top envoy on North Korean issues – along with a top general, Liu Zhenqi, and other high-ranking officials. APTN footage of Wen’s discussions with Kim Yong Il showed the delegations sitting across from each other at a long table and Yang and North Korean officials signing formal documents. Xinhua News Agency reports said a series of cooperation agreements on economy, trade, tourism and education were signed. Wen’s three-day visit is being scrutinized by the international community for any further indication that North Korea is willing to re-engage with its negotiating partners after boycotting talks for months while threatening nuclear war and conducting nuclear and missile tests. China’s Foreign Ministry last week did not indicate whether Wen would raise the nuclear issue during his visit but said only that he would meet with top North Korean leaders and attend events commemorating 60 years of diplomatic ties. However, a commitment made to Wen would be a major sign of respect for China , the most important source of economic aid and diplomatic support for the North’s reclusive communist regime. Beijing has hosted the stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks that also involve the US, Japan, South Korea and Russia, and continues to promote them as the best forum for dealing with the issue. Under the six-nation framework, North Korea pledged in September 2005 to dismantle its nuclear programs in exchange for pledges of energy assistance and diplomatic concessions. Progress has been bumpy, and North Korea walked away from the talks entirely in April to protest world criticism of a rocket launch. In May, it further escalated tensions by conducting a nuclear test, drawing a rebuke from Beijing and sanctions from the United Nations. Pyongyang has in recent weeks taken a more conciliatory approach, most recently allowing meetings of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korean state media on Sunday said Wen’s visit illustrates the importance China places on its ties with the North, a reflection of Pyongyang’s attempts to establish some form of face-saving parity in its dealings with its giant neighbor. Washington is applying increasing economic pressure on the North’s foreign trade, targeting private banks that might have North Korean ties. US officials hope to block money that could be used for missiles and nuclear bombs and, ultimately, to drive North Korea back to disarmament talks. The US administration said last month it and its top Asian allies had agreed that direct US-North Korean talks may be the best way to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table. But the officials also suggested that China needs to lay more groundwork before US President Barack Obama would decide to send his special North Korea envoy , Stephen Bosworth, to Pyongyang.