China's premier meets with N. Korea's No. 2 leader

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, UPDATES with Wen-Kim Yong-nam meeting, cemetery visit,
COMBINES with earlier story slugged "NK-China-nuke talks")
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- China vowed Monday to strengthen its alliance with
North Korea, as its premier was in Pyongyang to celebrate the 60th anniversary of
the two nations' diplomatic relations.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's nominal
No. 2 leader and president of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly,
ahead of his broadly anticipated meeting with the North's top leader, Kim
Jong-il.
"Both China and the DPRK face important tasks of developing their respective
economies and improving people's standard of living, and need to make further
efforts to strengthen friendly cooperation," We was quoted as saying in the talks
by China's Xinhua News Agency. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea, the North's official name.
Wen earlier visited a cemetery for Chinese soldiers who died fighting for North
Korea in the 1950-53 Korean War, Xinhua said. Among the 134 Chinese buried there
is Mao Anying, son of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, it said.
Wen arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday with an official mission to attend the closing
ceremony of the 60th anniversary celebrations set for Tuesday. The North's leader
Kim Jong-il greeted him at the airport, a protocol usually reserved for heads of
state, and crowds of colorfully-clad citizens gave him a roaring welcome on the
city streets.
The two leaders are highly anticipated to hold official talks as early as Monday,
as outside attention was focused on whether Kim would move forward to restart
negotiations over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Kim said in September that his country was open to multilateral talks, as well as
bilateral ones, to resolve the nuclear standoff, but it was not clear whether he
meant the stalled six-party talks.
Pyongyang quit the six-party forum in April, saying it would "never" return to
it, to protest U.N. sanctions over its long-range rocket test. The rocket launch
was widely viewed as a missile technology test. In May, the North drew sharper
U.N. sanctions by testing its nuclear device.
The six-party talks, aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program, involve
the Koreas, the U.S., Japan, Russia and host China.
In a meeting with Wen, North Korean Premier Kim Yong-il blamed the United States
for the nuclear standoff but reaffirmed the country's intent on "bilateral and
multilateral dialogues."
North Korea has been insisting on one-on-one talks with the U.S. over its atomic
program. Washington had initially demanded Pyongyang first return to the
six-party talks but is now considering direct talks to push negotiations forward.
U.S. special envoy on North Korea Stephen Bosworth is expected to decide whether
to visit North Korea for bilateral talks after analyzing the results of Wen's
trip.
Kim Jong-il and Chinese President Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messages
over the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
The establishment of China-DPRK relations on Oct. 6, 1949 was "epoch-making" and
China will "further promote the good neighborly, friendly and cooperative
relations," Hu said.
Kim called the alliance a "precious common wealth."
The two countries signed a series of accords ranging from economic assistance and
cooperation in technology, education and tourism. Wen's is the highest-ranking
Chinese visit to Pyongyang since Hu's trip there in 2005 and the first by a
Chinese premier in 18 years.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)