North Korea to return to table for nuke talks

BEIJING - The Assocaited Press

Top North Korean general (L) visits Beijing for talks on denuclearization. REUTERS photo

China told a top North Korean envoy May 24 it wants a peaceful, denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and said the emissary warned there is “no guarantee of peace” but that his country was willing to hold talks with all sides.

The official state Xinhua News Agency said a top Chinese army general, Fan Changlong, made the call for denuclearization in his meeting on May 24 with North Korean Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae.

His comments were a reiteration of China’s established position, but could be seen as a rebuke of its neighboring ally following a half-year gap in high-level contacts during which Pyongyang angered Beijing by conducting rocket launches, a nuclear test and other saber-rattling. Choe, a personal envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was widely expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and deliver a message from Kim before returning.

“Conditions on the Korean Peninsula and in the east Asian region are complex and exceptional, and there is no guarantee of peace.

North Korea’s people require a peaceful and stable environment to build their nation,” Choe was quoted as saying. “North Korea is willing to work with all sides to search for a method of solving the problems through dialogue,” Choe said.