Seoul, September 19: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il says his country will continue to adhere to the goal of ‘denuclearization’ and promote bilateral and multilateral talks.
Kim made this statement on Friday in a meeting in Pyongyang with Chinese special envoy Dai Bingguo, who is in North Korea with a letter from his President Hu Jintao amid diplomatic efforts to resume stalled talks aimed at ending the North’s nuclear weapons program.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency did not mention the contents of the letter but only said “Kim Jong Il explained the situation of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula and said that North Korea will continue to adhere to the goal of denuclearization”.
Kim said North Korea is committed to safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula and would like to do this through bilateral and multilateral dialogue to resolve the problem, the agency said.
North Korea pulled out of the six-party talks on its nuclear program in April, after the United Nations condemned its nuclear test and missile launches.
Last month diplomats from North Korea met US Governor Bill Richardson in New Mexico and agreed to hold bilateral talks with the United States. Recently, Pyongyang invited the Obama administration’s special envoy to visit the North.
This is while last Friday, the US reciprocated and said it is willing to engage directly with North Korea as a way of bringing the country back to the six-party talks.
China, South Korea, Japan and Russia are the other four nations involved in the six-party talks.
—–Agencies