*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL, South Korea - October 5, 2009: 
China says North Korea has expressed willingness to resolve its nuclear standoff with the world through negotiations.
China says North Korea has expressed willingness to resolve its nuclear standoff with the world through negotiations. According to Chinese media, North Korean Premier Kim Yong-Il has told visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday that Pyongyang was open to talks on its nuclear programs. "North Korea has never abandoned its willingness to realize this goal (denuclearizing the Korean peninsula) through bilateral and multilateral dialogue," China's state television quoted Kim as saying. The Chinese premier arrived in North Korea on Sunday and was greeted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il at Pyongyang airport.
Wen is the most senior Chinese figure to visit North Korea since 2005 when President Hu Jintao paid a visit to the country. During his three-day visit, Wen is expected to urge the North to return to the stalled six-party disarmament negotiations, which Pyongyang withdrew from last year in protest at the United Nations censure of its long-range missile test on April 5.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Beijing's top envoy to the six-party talks are accompanying Wen on the visit portrayed by Chinese officials as a "goodwill trip."
Pyongyang has repeatedly said that it must keep its nuclear deterrent in the face of what it calls "US nuclear threats," adding that it prefers to directly negotiate with Washington.
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