North Korea's Kim Jong-il says ready to resume six-party nuclear talks

North Korea's Kim Jong-il says ready to resume six-party nuclear talks

2011-08-26 21:58:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Friday said during his visit to China that his government is ready to resume six-party nuclear talks without preconditions.

Kim arrived by train in China's northeast on Thursday after a four-day-visit to Russia's Far East and Siberian Federal Districts where he met Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday. Kim and Medvedev also discussed the possible resumption of six-nation nuclear talks.

While meeting with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo during his visit to Heilongjiang province in China on Friday, Kim said North Korea adheres to the goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and said it is ready to implement a joint statement signed on September 19, 2005 in which the country promised to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.

Kim made similar statements during his visit to Russia but were discarded by the United States as insufficient. "If in fact they are now willing to refrain from nuclear test and missile launches, this would be welcome, but it would be insufficient," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

She added: "As you know, their disclosure last November of uranium enrichment facilities remains a matter of serious concern to us, and these activities are a clear violation of their obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, and contrary to the commitments that they made in 2005. So if it's true, a welcome first step, but far enough from enough [to resume the six-party talks]."

Six-party nuclear disarmament talks have been stalled since late 2008 due to North Korea's anger over United Nations sanctions. It was followed by a nuclear test in North Korea's North Hamgyong province on May 25, 2009, as well as a series of test-firings of missiles.

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