Report: N. Korean Leader Signals Possible Return to Nuclear Talks
北韓釋放愿重返六方會談信號
North Korea's leader has apparently told a senior Chinese envoy he is willing to resume talks to resolve the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.
北韓領導人據報對中國高級特使表示，他愿意返回有關解決北韓核武器計劃的會談。
China's Xinhua news agency says North Korean leader Kim Jong Il promises to work toward making the Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons. Mr. Kim also is willing to engage in what the report describes as "bilateral or multilateral talks" to help push that goal forward.
中國官方的新華社說，北韓領導人金正日允諾為實現朝鮮半島無核化而努力。報道還說，金正日還愿意參加朝這一目標努力的“雙邊或多邊會談”。
Those comments, if accurate, would be the first explicit sign in months that North Korea is willing to resume diplomacy aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs. Mr. Kim reportedly made them to senior Chinese envoys visiting Pyongyang.
如果報道屬實，這將是數月以來北韓第一次明確表示愿意重新參加旨在終止北韓核計劃的外交努力。據報道，金正日向訪問平壤的中國特使做出這個表示。
A North Korean state broadcaster says Mr. Kim met with Dai Bingguo, an envoy of Chinese Premier Hu Jintao. They held talks in a "cordial atmosphere" about continuing the North Korea-China friendship.
北韓國家廣播電臺說，金正日會見了中國總理溫家寶的特使戴秉國，在“親切氣氛中”討論了北韓和中國繼續發展友誼的問題。
China's envoy to six-nation nuclear talks, Wu Dawei, also attended the meeting. The often-stalled six-nation talks also involve the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Russia. Earlier this year, North Korea declared the six-party process "useless" and over with. It conducted its second nuclear test in May.
六方會談的中國代表團團長武大偉也參加了會見。參加有關北韓核計劃的六方會談的還有美國、韓國、日本和俄羅斯。六方會談經常擱淺。今年早些時候，北韓宣稱六方會談“毫無用處”，將不再參加。北韓5月進行了它的第二次核試驗。
South Korean officials caution against interpreting Mr. Kim's reported comments as a signal the North is ready to come back to the talks. The South's foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan, told business leaders in Seoul Friday that Pyongyang has other ideas.
韓國官員說，不應急于把報道提及的金正日講話視為北韓將重返六方會談的信號。韓國外交通商部長柳明桓星期五在首爾對商界領袖說，平壤另有想法。
Yu says now that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, Pyongyang intends to have U.S.-North Korea arms reduction talks, which the U.S. cannot accept.
柳明桓說，北韓現在已經擁有核武器，打算和美國進行削減軍備的談判，而美國不會接受這個要求。
Washington has ruled out such arms reduction talks, which would implicitly recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state. The United States and its regional partners say they will accept nothing less than a complete and verifiable end to North Korea's nuclear arms capabilities.
美國排除了與北韓進行削減軍備談判的任何可能。進行這種談判將等于明確承認北韓是核國家。美國及其東亞盟友說，必須以可核查的方式全面廢止北韓的核武器能力，除此之外不接受任何其它方案。
President Obama's administration has expressed willingness to talk to North Korea one-on-one, but only in a context that is directly connected to the six-party talks.
奧巴馬政府表示愿意與北韓進行一對一的談判，但條件是這種談判必須直接相關六方會談。
North Korea analysts here in the South Korean capital find it significant that Mr. Kim's reported comments come during a visit from China. Beijing is the North's only significant ally, and provides a lifeline of food, fuel, and resources to its hobbled economy.
首爾的北韓問題分析人士認為，在中國特使訪問北韓之際報道金正日的這個講話具有重大意義。
Hong Hyun-ik is a North Korea researcher at the Sejong Institute in Seoul.
韓信一是首爾世宗研究所的北韓問題研究員。
He says China felt the need to stop the North's nuclear activities from getting out of hand. He says Beijing also does not want to be isolated from any one-on-one diplomatic arrangement between North Korea and the United States. So, China sent its envoy, says Hong, to remind Kim Jong Il how crucial it is to the North's economic fate.
他說，中國感到有必要制止北韓的核活動，以防事態失控。他說，北京不希望被排斥在北韓和美國任何一對一談判之外，因此派遣特使提醒金正日，中國對北韓經濟具有至關重要的作用。
