The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Nonetheless a commentary carried by KCNA last month stressed that when Pyongyang refers to “denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, it includes the North, the South, and “surrounding areas from where the Korean peninsula is targeted”.
Kim Han-kwon, an analyst at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy warned that preliminary talks between Pyongyang and Washington would be crucial.
“If what the North puts on the table after its summit with China fails to meet Washington’s expectations, there will be conflict and fresh doubts about whether a second summit should take place,” he told AFP.
– Birthday banquet –
Washington and Beijing have competing strategic interests in northeast Asia, and Xinhua said Xi had re-asserted China’s importance in the diplomatic process.
Beijing stands ready to “play a positive and constructive role in maintaining peace and stability and realising denuclearisation on the peninsula and lasting peace and stability in the region”, it cited him as saying.
Xi greeted Kim at Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Tuesday — believed to be the North Korean leader’s birthday — before hosting a welcome banquet for Kim and his wife Ri Sol Ju.
Kim visited a pharmaceutical plant that makes traditional Chinese medicine on Wednesday and met Xi again for lunch before heading home.
The visit coincided with trade talks between Chinese and US officials.
Analysts say China could use the North Korean issue as a bargaining chip in the negotiations, but Beijing’s foreign ministry rejected any link between Kim’s trip and the talks.
There was a “rare historic opportunity” for a political settlement on the peninsula, Xi said according to Xinhua, and China “supports the DPRK and the United States holding summits and achieving results”.
