BEIJING – China gave its first full public account Tuesday of its mission to North Korea, saying it got no apology from top leader Kim Jong Il for the atomic explosion but did receive assurances there were no plans for a second nuclear test.
Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with Kim last week during a trip to Pyongyang with Beijing’s top nuclear envoy and vice foreign minister that analysts and diplomats had called a critical opportunity to assess the North’s intentions.
The meeting resulted in no breakthroughs, but China cast the discussions in a positive light.
Tang was told during meetings with Kim and other North Korean officials that the regime has no plans currently to carry out a second nuclear test, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. “But if it faces pressure, North Korea reserves the right to take further actions,” he added, citing Tang.
A second nuclear test has been widely believed to be a possibility. Earlier this month, U.S. media reported that Pyongyang may be preparing for another blast, citing suspicious activity at a suspected test site in the country’s northeast.
But on Tuesday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported the U.S. military had not detected signs of preparations for a second atomic test.
Despite the apparently conciliatory tone of the Pyongyang meeting, Liu said Kim did not apologize for his regime’s nuclear test, as some South Korean media had reported.
Kim also expressed a willingness to return to six-nation talks over its nuclear program if financial restrictions levied by the U.S. are first resolved, Liu said.
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