By Lee Tae-hoon
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il stressed the need for an early resumption of the stalled six-party talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula during his visit to Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.
The Chinese state-run wire service said Kim made the remarks during a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao in the Chinese capital Wednesday.
“The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-il said the DPRK advocates that the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue be resumed at an early time,” Xinhua said. The DPRK is the official acronym for North Korea.
The talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan have been in limbo since December 2008 due to a boycott by Pyongyang, and its reluctance to apologize for two deadly attacks on the South in 2010.
Xinhua said Hu told Kim that all related parties should "remain calm and restrained, show flexibility, remove obstacles, improve relations and make positive efforts to ultimately accomplish peace, stability and development on the peninsula."
According to the agency, Hu also said China was glad to see North Korea giving top priority to improving the lives of its people and economic development; despite the fact that the reclusive North is notorious for human rights abuses and widespread famine.
In response, Kim reportedly said that the North "is now concentrating its attention and resources on economic development, and it is in great need of a stable neighboring environment."
Observers say the comment can be construed as the North’s plea for greater assistance from China, its last remaining ally and main economic partner, in reviving its morbid economy.
The news agency said Hu accepted Kim’s invitation to visit Pyongyang with pleasure and vowed to deepen exchanges in culture, education and sports, particularly among young people to pass on the two countries’ friendship from generation to generation.
Political watchers say the comment can be viewed as China’s support for the North’s leadership succession to Kim’s youngest son, Jong-un.
Meanwhile, Kim also met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao following his talks with Hu.
Xinhua said Wen pointed out that the two countries boosted substantial cooperation in trade, while maintaining frequent high-level exchanges in recent years.
It was Kim’s third visit to Beijing since last May.
Trade between the North and China in 2010 jumped 32 percent year-on-year to slightly over $3.46 billion, according to a report compiled by the Korea International Trade Association.
The latest trip began last Friday.
Kim left Beijing on his private train Thursday, signaling an end to his weeklong clandestine journey.
On Sunday, Wen said Beijing had invited Kim to visit the country to offer him an opportunity to study Chinese economic development for possible application in the North.
The direction of Kim's armored train suggested that he was on route to Pyongyang, but it remained uncertain whether he would stop by Shenyang or Dandong as he has done on previous visits.
Before his departure, Kim visited the capital's Zhongguancun technology zone accompanied by Chinese Executive Vice Premier Li Keqiang. The district is known as China’s “Silicon Valley.”
Those who spotted him in China said Kim’s health seemed to have significantly improved since he had a stroke in 2008.
Experts here say North Korean leader Kim likely sought greater assistance from China in the development of its Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone during his meeting with Hu.
The North designated the area which is also called Rason as the free trade zone in 2002 to experiment with capitalism.
“Both Pyongyang and Beijing have shown interest in the joint development of Rason over the past two decades, but little progress has been made so far due largely to political uncertainty,” Paik Hak-soon, director of inter-Korean relations studies at the Sejong Institute, told The Korea Times.
“Now it appears Pyongyang is desperate to make tangible gains through the strategic use of its port city.”
He said the development of the free trade zone was likely included as one of the agenda items for the Kim-Hu summit due to its extensive commercial potential and strategic value.
Rajin-Sonbong allows China to link its three resource-rich northeastern provinces with the southern industrial region and reduce transportation costs up to three times.
The North Korean port city is expected to become China’s gateway to the Pacific Ocean and provides the Stalinist North an opportunity to make noticeable economic gains.
“The year 2012 marks the centennial of the birth of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung and it is a year that the communist regime promised to become a powerful and prosperous nation,” Paik said.
“Kim Jong-il needs to demonstrate economic achievements in order to justify the dynastic succession of power to his youngest son, Jong-un.”
Other experts offered a similar view, saying Kim’s latest visit showed the North's growing economic dependency on China.
Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University, noted that Kim’s visit was ostensibly about economic aid and investment and “even its somewhat unusual route seems to confirm this.”
Shin Sang-jin, a specialist in Chinese international policy at Kwangwoon University, claimed that the communist regime’s growing isolation from the international community is driving the cash-strapped North to seek deeper ties with China.