By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: January 31, 2008 Filed at 1:43 a.m. ET
BEIJING (AP) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il assured a visiting Chinese delegation that his regime was still committed to holding up its end of the stalled six-nation nuclear deal, China's official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.
Kim met with Wang Jiarui, head of the liaison office of China's ruling Communist Party, on Wednesday and told him that ''the present difficulties are temporary and can be conquered,'' Xinhua said.
''There are no changes in the North's stance to continue pushing forward the six-party talks persistently and implementing all the agreements,'' Kim was quoted as saying.
Under an agreement reached by the United States, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and China, the North promised to deliver a complete declaration of its nuclear programs and disable its main reactor. In exchange, it is to receive the equivalent of 1 million tons of oil, along with being removed from U.S. terrorism and trade blacklists.
Pyongyang has said it has given the list to the U.S., but Washington says the declaration -- laying out the programs the U.S. wants to be dismantled by the end of the year -- is incomplete.
''As long as all the parties fulfill promises according to the 'action-for-action' principal, the talks will conquer obstacles and continuously forge ahead,'' Kim said.
The report came as the U.S. State Department's top Korea expert, Sung Kim, left for Pyongyang to advance the deadlocked deal after a one-day stop in Beijing.
The American expert has said he will press for the delivery of a complete declaration ''as quick as possible.''
North Korea has begun disabling its main nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, but has gone beyond a Dec. 31 deadline due to technical reasons. Sung Kim was not planning to visit Yongbyon during his trip, which was expected to last up to three days.
