The FINANCIAL — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit North Korea for two days next month. The trip could help revive talks with global powers stalled for nearly a year on ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao "will pay an official goodwill visit" to North Korea from Oct. 4 to 6, the North's KCNA news agency said in a one sentence dispatch on Monday, Reuters wrote. China's Foreign Ministry confirmed the trip, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
The planned visit comes amid efforts to draw North Korea back to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, CNN informs. North Korea pulled out in April, protesting the United Nations' condemnation over its nuclear test and missile launches.
The South's Yonhap news agency quoted diplomatic sources in Beijing as saying there could be an announcement during Wen's visit about the dormant six-country, disarmament-for-aid talks hosted by Beijing, according Reuters. "There probably will be significant talks between Wen and leader Kim Jong-il not only on their relations, but of events over the Korean peninsula and nuclear arms," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the South's University of North Korean Studies.
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