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Kim Jong-il hopes for early resumption of six-party talks on N.Korea nuclear issue

© RIA Novosti . Vladimir RodionovKim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il  - Sputnik International
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has expressed hope for an early resumption of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program during talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in China, Xinhua said on Monday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has expressed hope for an early resumption of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program during talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in China, Xinhua said on Monday.

The North Korean leader arrived in China early on Thursday, but there has been no official confirmation of the visit from either China or North Korea, according to media reports.

Hu and Kim held talks in Changchun, the capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, from August 26 to 30, Xinhua said.

Last week, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim's presumed visit was an "apparent bid to win Beijing's approval for North Korea's expected power succession to the leader's youngest son, Jong-un, in the coming years."

Kim reportedly told his Chinese counterpart that the DPRK's stance on the situation in the region remains unchanged, and the country "is not willing to see tensions on the peninsula," Xinhua reported.

The visit comes amid efforts by Beijing and Pyongyang to resume the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program. The talks have been halted since last April when North Korea walked out of negotiations in protest against the United Nations' condemnation of its missile tests.

The visit also coincides with mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula caused by the sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in March, which Seoul blamed on the North.

The Chinese authorities previously declined to comment on media reports that Kim visited China in early May, just over a month after the Cheonan was sunk near the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea, claiming the lives of 46 sailors.

Kim visited China in 2000, 2004 and 2006. The Chinese and North Korean authorities traditionally inform the public of such visits only after they are over, apparently for security reasons.

BEIJING, August 30 (RIA Novosti) 

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