Kim Jong-il says N.K. will return to 6-way talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has said his country will return to the six-party talks on its nuclear disarmament depending on the outcome of discussions with the United States, the North`s official news service reported, according to Yonhap News.

While meeting with visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao Monday, Kim "expressed our readiness to hold multilateral talks, depending on the outcome of the DPRK-U.S. talks," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a dispatch from Pyongyang. DPRK stands for North Korea`s official name, the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea.

"The six-party talks are also included in the multilateral talks," the KCNA said, paraphrasing Kim.

Kim`s remarks come amid optimism that Wen`s visit to North Korea may produce a breakthrough in the six-party talks, which the North declared "dead" earlier this year after being punished with U.N. sanctions for its long-range rocket test. The talks are hosted by Beijing.

The North Korean leader also reiterated Pyongyang`s position on denuclearization.

"Our efforts to attain the goal of denuclearizing the peninsula remain unchanged," Kim said. "The denuclearization of the peninsula was the behest of President Kim Il-sung," North Korea`s late founder and Kim Jong-il`s father.

Kim also denounced what he called U.S. hostility toward the North.

"The hostile relations between the DPRK and the United States should be converted into peaceful ties through the bilateral talks without fail," he said, according to the KCNA.

North Korea has said the six-party talks were being used as a tool of oppression, and insists on resolving the nuclear issue through bilateral talks with the U.S.

U.S. officials have said they are awaiting the outcome of Wen`s visit before deciding whether to send Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy, to the North Korean capital to try to persuade the North to come back to the six-nation forum.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told a daily news briefing earlier in the day that "no decisions have been made" about Bosworth`s possible Pyongyang trip.

Asked if the U.S. wants Wen`s visit to change the North`s attitude on the six-party talks, Kelly said, "Well, I hope so. I mean, that is our goal, that North Korea will return to the six-party talks. And that`s the goal we share with the Chinese."

The spokesman said, "We, of course, encourage any kind of dialogue that would help us lead to our ultimate goal that`s shared by all the partners in the six-party talks, which, of course, is the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

The North Korean leader made a rare appearance at Pyongyang`s airport to greet Wen on Sunday, a protocol usually reserved for heads of state.

Wen said he "appreciated the DPRK`s commitment to a nuclear-free peninsula and multilateral dialogue, including the six-party talks, in realizing this goal," China`s Xinhua News Agency said.