Chinese Premier to Visit N Korea Next Month: Sources
Seoul — Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is expected to visit North Korea early next month amid discussion between Washington and Pyongyang about possible bilateral talks aimed at denuclearizing the North, diplomatic sources said Monday.
Wen is likely to visit the North after visiting Mongolia, sources told Yonhap News Agency by telephone, adding that his visit will be made about Oct. 4-6. A detailed itinerary, however, has not been revealed.
The move would come months after the premier canceled his earlier plan to visit the North, scheduled for the first half of the year, following Pyongyang’s second nuclear test in defiance of opposition from the international community.
Wen’s visit is seen as an effort by China to play some kind of mediation role ahead of possible Washington-Pyongyang talks, observers say.
Last week, the U.S. announced it will soon undertake bilateral negotiations with the North to persuade it to return to the suspended six-party talks.
Pyongyang has boycotted the talks, claiming the negotiation framework was being used to infringe upon its sovereign right to develop nuclear and space technology. The six-party process also involves South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
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China PM likely to visit North Korea in October
When asked in a parliament committee meeting whether Wen would be visiting the North early next month, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said: “I understand that’s the case.”
Source: Reuters September 17, 2009
Chinese envoy holds talks in North Korea
BEIJING (Reuters) – An envoy to Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with North Korean officials in Pyongyang on Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported, but it did not say if North Korea’s controversial nuclear program was discussed.
State Councilor Dai Bingguo held talks with North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Chu, discussing bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern, the ministry said.
The report made no mention of stalled six-party talks, hosted by China, aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program and which North Korea has declared as over.
The Obama administration is searching for a way to revive the talks and has said it is prepared to hold direct talks to try to coax North Korea back to the six-party negotiations, involving Japan, Russia and China as well as the two Koreas and the United States.
China has also been trying to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table.
There have been unconfirmed reports in the Japanese press that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit North Korea in early October. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said it has “no official information to announce” on that reported visit.
Pyongyang has been sending out conflicting messages. In August, it made a series of conciliatory gestures, followed this month by more nuclear threats and then straining ties with Seoul by releasing water from a dam on a river flowing across the border, triggering a flash flood that killed six South Koreans.
Source: Reuters – September 16, 2009
China says no formal information on Premier Wen’s visit to DPRK
BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it has “no formal information” regarding a reported visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) by Premier Wen Jiabao.
“I have no information to release about what you have asked,” said the ministry’s spokeswoman Jiang Yu in response to media reports that Premier Wen is planning a visit to the DPRK.
“The Chinese government has always attached importance to friendly cooperation and maintained friendly exchanges with neighboring countries,” said Jiang.
Source: Xinhua – September 15, 2009