Hu Jintao Will Visit North Korea in the First Half of This Year

Hu Jintao Will Visit North Korea in the First Half of This Year. April. 06, 2005 23:28. by Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com.

Accepting an invitation from North Korea, Chinese President Hu Jintao has decided to visit Pyongyang in the first half of this year, and six-way talks surrounding the North Korean nuclear issue will resume around the middle of May, according to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun from Washington, quoting a high-ranking U.S. official.

According to the report, the official said that an agreement was reached between North Korea`s First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Suk Ju, who visited Beijing recently, and Chinese leaders. "The Chinese government seemed to be successful in persuading North Korea to return to the table in exchange for Hu`s visit," the official added.

Kang, in his secret visit to China from April 2 to 5, allegedly discussed with Chinese International Relationships’ Minister Wang Jiarui and Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei about Hu`s visit to the North and the resumption of the six-way talks.

Regarding the timetable of talks, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, "The most plausible scenario is to determine the timing of resuming the talks before the scheduled meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and Hu at a ceremony in Moscow, Russia in early May to celebrate the 60th anniversary of victory in World War II, and commence talks in the middle of that month." Hu, after being inaugurated as the president of China in 2002, has never visited the North.