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China presses Kim to soften stance, media say

China urged visiting North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il to soften his stance towards the US to break an impasse over ending secretive Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, South Korean media said yesterday.

Kim slipped unannounced into Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), military chief Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) on the North's nuclear ambitions and its threadbare economy.

Kim repeated his secretive government's standard position, telling Beijing he was ready to scrap his nuclear programs if the US changed what he called its hostile attitude, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.

His rare overseas trip, that could last up to four days, comes a week after US Vice President Dick Cheney visited China with new evidence of the North's possession of nuclear arms and warning that time was running out to end the stalemate.

The purpose of Kim's visit was not immediately clear, but the reclusive leader of the world's only communist dynasty may be eager to win Beijing's support for his fledgling market reforms and nuclear position.

"Jiang Zemin told him the possibility of the United States invading North Korea is very slim, indirectly suggesting he should change North Korea's tough line against the United States," the South's Munhwa Ilbo evening newspaper said.

Kim had voiced doubts in the meeting with Jiang about whether he would win the security guarantees he wants in return for stopping his nuclear weapons programs, Munhwa Ilbo said.

Kim also received advice on handling his ailing economy.

"Wen gave polite advice to Kim that if North Korea really wants openness and reform, North Korea needs to benchmark not only the Chinese model but also visit South Korea and directly witness the winds of capitalism," it said of his talks with the Chinese premier.

Ending the nuclear crisis is critical to unlocking outside aid to the ailing and isolated North Korean economy, including from China, the North's closest friend and host of two rounds of inconclusive six-party talks aimed at breaking the impasse.

However, Kim may calculate that an arsenal of nuclear weapons is the only way to guarantee the survival of his government, giving him leverage with the US as he presses for security guarantees to prevent any possible US invasion.

In his meeting with Hu on Monday, Kim explained his need for nuclear weapons, but said he was willing to give up his ambitions if the US changed "its hostile attitude," the Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest daily, said.

Kim was due to meet Hu a second time before leaving Beijing, the South's Yonhap news agency said.

A Chinese source with knowledge of the visit said Kim would leave the Chinese capital today. It was not clear where he would go, but South Korean media reports said he might visit the northeastern cities of Shenyang or Dalian.

Asked if the US had used the opportunity to pass a message to Kim, a US embassy spokeswoman was careful, saying only: "China knows our position well and this was reaffirmed during Vice President Cheney's visit to China."

China had agreed to give the North energy and food aid, South Korean media said. Beijing may be eager to offer rewards to ensure Pyongyang does not declare itself a nuclear state and has long insisted on a peaceful resolution to a crisis that has enraged Washington and triggered nervousness among neighbors.

The reclusive Kim had confirmed Pyongyang's willingness to settle the nuclear crisis at the next round of six-party talks that include the two Koreas, China, Russia, the US and Japan, South Korean media said.

In the last round of talks in February, the six agreed to meet again before June and to start working-level talks before that to discuss the dispute.

No progress has been reported since.

Chinese and North Korean media were silent on the visit, Kim's first to his giant neighbor in three years.
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