Kim and Medvedev propose six-party talks without preconditions

　　　

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly suggested Wednesday a moratorium on nuclear testing and unconditional resumption of six-party talks on its nuclear program. This suggestion was dismissed by South Korea and the United States.

Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to reopen the six-party talks without preconditions in a summit held at the Sosnovy Bor military base near the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on the fifth day of his first trip to Russia in nine years. During the two-hour discussion, Kim presented his intention to declare a moratorium on the testing and production of nuclear weapons and said North Korea was ready to return to the multilateral negotiating table.

The two leaders also agreed to establish a special commission to promote the project of building a gas pipeline to transport Russian natural gas running through North Korea to South Korea.

In regard to Kim’s remarks on nuclear test moratorium, a South Korean government official said “There was no development from North Korea’s previous stance.”

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that although it is a “welcome first step,” it would be insufficient to resume six-party talks.

Meanwhile, attention is focusing on the relatively prompt coverage of Kim Jong-il’s Russia visit for several days running on North Korean Central Television (KCTV), which stands in contrast with its silence on the North Korean leader’s visit to China in May.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Kim’s arrival at Russia’s Hassan Station at roughly the same time as foreign news outlets on Aug. 20, when he crossed over the Tumen (Duman) River. When Kim arrived on Aug. 23 at Ulan-Ude, the site of the North Korea-Russia summit meeting, the agency reported that he had talked with Republic of Buryatia President Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, who had come out to greet him.

Previously, the Workers’ Party of Korea newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on Aug. 22 that Kim was met with a warm welcome in Russia‘s Amur Oblast, where he was visiting the Bureya hydroelectric power station.