( dpa ) - North Korea will honour its commitments under a six-party agreement to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme, Chinese state media on Thursday quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as telling a Chinese delegation.
"Kim said the DPRK's (Democratic People's Republic of Korea's) stance on fulfillment of its commitment under the six-party talks remains unchanged," the government's official Xinhua news agency reported from Pyongyang.
Kim told Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of China's ruling Communist Party, that all six nations "should fulfill their commitment under the principle of 'action for action'," the agency said.
He told Wang that North Korea would "cooperate with China to push forward the full implementation of agreements", it said.
Wang said there had been "positive development" in the six-party talks, which also involve the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
He urged all parties to "fulfill their commitments to push forward the six-party talks and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula", the agency said.
Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency also reported the meeting but did not mention the nuclear issue.
The North Korean agency quoted Wang as saying in a speech that relations between the two communist parties were "growing stronger even under the complicated international situation."
Earlier this week, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim was considering a visit to China in late March.
Sung Kim, the head of the US State Department's Korea office, was scheduled to travel from Beijing to Pyongyang on Thursday.
Speaking in South Korea on Tuesday, Sung Kim repeated Washington's demand that North Korea give a full report on its nuclear activities.
Only then could the country expect to be taken off the list of nations backing terrorism, Yonhap quoted him as saying.
The United States, South Korea and Japan have expressed regret over North Korea's failure to meet an agreed deadline at the end of 2007 to declare its nuclear programme.
North Korea agreed in October to dismantle nuclear facilities at its main Yongbyon complex and declare its other nuclear activities by December 31.
The other five nations have promised North Korea comprehensive economic and energy aid in return for its compliance.