Returning to talks
August 24, 2011
Kim Jong-Il travelled by train to meet with Russian President Medvedev because of his fear of flying. The two leaders met at a military base in the Siberian town of Sosnovy Bor near Lake Baikal. Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said after the meeting, ''Kim Jong-Il expressed readiness to return to six-party talks without preconditions.'' The six-nation disarmament talks between North and South Korea, Russia, the US, China and Japan had collapsed when North Korea walked out on them in 2008.
The United States and South Korea have called on North Korea to agree to a moratorium before the six-party talks reconvene. But Timokova's comments suggested that President Kim Jong-Il wanted no discussion of the moratorium. Medvedev told local reporters the talks had focused largely on bilateral economic issues, among them a project to extend Russian natural gas deliveries into energy-hungry South Korea via a pipeline crossing North Korea. At a press conference he called the talks ''open, comprehensive and wide-reaching.''
Citing a ''severe deficit'' of food products, Russia said last week that it would send 50,000 tons of grain to North Korea by the end of September. North Korea has also been seeking foreign investment to improve its infrastructure.
Author: Marina Joarder (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Sarah Berning