US envoy in China as rumours on N.Korea’s Kim swirl

By Chris Buckley and Jon Herskovitz

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – The top U.S. negotiator with
North Korea said in Beijing he would try to breathe life into
stalled nuclear talks on Thursday as North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il appeared to continue a secret trip to China.

“We’re going to discuss a way forward on the six-party
talks,” Christopher Hill told reporters at the airport in
Beijing, after holding similar talks in Seoul and Tokyo.

“Obviously what we need is for all six parties to agree to
a date.” added Hill, who was due to meet his Chinese
counterpart, Wu Dawei.

Hill said he had no plans to meet any North Korean
officials in Beijing but hinted that Kim was also in China. “I
understand we have some North Korean visitors here today,” he
said.

Earlier on Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea,
Alexander Vershbow, said the United States had little
information on Kim’s whereabouts but said he hoped Kim was
holding meetings that may help make progress on the six-party
talks.

The nuclear talks, which group the two Koreas, host China,
the United States, Russia and Japan, made progress last year
when North Korea agreed in principle to dismantle its atomic
weapons in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

The six were meant to meet again early this year, but North
Korea has threatened to boycott the proceedings because of a
U.S. crackdown on its finances. The last round of talks was
held in November.

ELUSIVE KIM

The United States has clamped down on several companies it
suspects of aiding North Korea in counterfeiting, money
laundering and the drugs trade, saying the illicit business has
helped fund Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programmes.

Hill said the sanctions issue was not the focus of his
trip, adding he was anxious to move forward on implementing the
pledges made at the six-party talks.

Vershbow said U.S. Treasury officials would head to South
Korea and China in the next 10 days to discuss U.S. concerns
about North Korea’s suspected illicit activities.

Officials speculated that if Kim was indeed in China, his
visit could give new impetus to the negotiating process.

“If he is visiting China, this could have positive
results,” South Korean Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo
told reporters.

Various media reports — citing witnesses, diplomatic
sources and those familiar with his movements — have put Kim
in Beijing and Shanghai, and one source said he was in Russia.

Hong Kong journalists began flocking to the southern city
of Guangzhou on rumours Kim was staying at the White Swan
Hotel.

“We wouldn’t take any reservations from the 12th to the
16th,” said Janet Xie, assistant general manager at the White
Swan, adding she did not know the reason.

Staff at the hotel’s Hirata Restaurant said the hotel would
not be open to the public from January 13-15. Nearby
restaurants and bars said they had not seen any unusual
security presence.

Guangdong was a pioneer in China’s economic reforms and its
party secretary, Zhang Dejiang, studied in North Korea and
speaks Korean. There is also a North Korean trade office not
far from the hotel.

Kim’s last trip to China in 2004 was not confirmed until he
had returned home.

(Additional reporting by Lee Jin-joo, Lindsay Beck and John
Ruwitch)