North Korea Reportedly Rejected Chinese Call for Resumption of Six-Nation Nuclear Talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in a meeting last month with a senior Chinese official refused to return his country to multilateral nuclear negotiations, Kyodo News reported yesterday (see GSN, May 5).

Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan made a visit to Pyongyang, where Kim reaffirmed his position that North Korea would not return to talks unless the United States ends its crackdown on Pyongyang’s suspected financial misconduct, diplomatic sources said.

Tang’s trip was apparently spurred by U.S. President George W. Bush’s call on China during last month’s summit meeting in Washington to press North Korea to resume talks, the sources told Kyodo (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, May 7).

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