Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is negotiating details of his visit to North Korea for the closing ceremony of the China-North Korea Friendship Year in Pyongyang early next month, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Saturday citing a diplomatic source in Beijing. Wen is likely to visit between Oct. 1, the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, and the three-way summit among South Korea, China and Japan in Beijing on Oct. 10, the daily said. It will be Wen's first North Korea visit as prime minister.
North Korea's Prime Minister Kim Yong-il attended the opening ceremony for the friendship year in China in March. "Because there has been continued exchange of high-profile personnel between the two countries, Wen's visit to North Korea will be a separate issue from North Korea's nuclear weapons issue," a diplomat told the Mainichi. |