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Kimmy 'in China for secret talks'
EFL:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is reported to have met Chinese President Hu Jintao for talks in Beijing. South Korean media reports said a special train took the reclusive Mr Kim and his entourage to the Chinese capital for a summit on Monday.
| I guess a train wreck is a little too much to hope for. |
| Where's my signal switch key? |
China is a key mediator in the row over North Korea's nuclear programme. Talks have made little progress on how the programme could be dismantled, or how North Korea's energy and security concerns would be addressed. If confirmed, the North Korean leader's four-day visit to Pyongyang's old communist ally would be his first since May 2001. No mention of the visit was made on North Korea's official KCNA news agency or on China's official Xinhua news agency, but it was reported extensively in the South Korean media. Witnesses reported seeing a motorcade leaving the train station in Beijing.
| Don't want to give anyone ideas about taking over while Kimmy's gone. |
| Be a real shame if some NKor general got ideas. |
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said talks between Mr Kim and Mr Hu focused on North Korea's nuclear ambitions and Beijing's economic assistance to the North.
Mr Kim was also expected to meet other Chinese leaders, including former President Jiang Zemin and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Yonhap said. Mr Kim's special train crossed into China late on Sunday and travelled overnight to Beijing, South Korea's YTN cable television news said. The North Korean leader is scared of flying.
| More like scared of crashing. |
"At the moment all parties are working together to find a way to set up a working group to address issues," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told a news conference without confirming Mr Kim's visit.
| Yeah, a working group, that'll do it. |
| China has 6,000 years experience with beaurocracy. |
"China's objective is clear. The legitimate security concerns of [North Korea] should be properly addressed and the whole peninsula should be free of nuclear arms," he said. Mr Kim's two previous known trips to China since 2000 were confirmed by the two governments only after he returned home. Analysts say Pyongyang may be seeking economic and energy aid from its old communist ally.
But Beijing is under pressure from Washington to step up the pace of diplomacy over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
| And now they are applying pressure on Kimmy. |
During his visit to Asia last week, US Vice-President Dick Cheney told Chinese leaders that time was running out to resolve this issue. He reportedly presented Beijing with new evidence regarding North Korea's nuclear capability.
| "He's doing what? Jiang, get Kim on the phone, tell him to get his ass up here!" |
Posted by: Steve 2004-04-19 |
