N Korea hints at return to talks

Mr Kim (right) held nearly five hours of talks with South Korean officials

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has told a South Korean official that Pyongyang could rejoin international talks on its nuclear programme in July.

He said this would depend on the US treating it as an "equal partner" and on further consultations with Washington.

Mr Kim was holding a rare, unscheduled meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young.

North Korea has not taken part in talks on its nuclear programme for a year.

"Chairman Kim Jong-Il said [North Korea] could rejoin six-party talks even in July if the US surely recognises and respects the country as a [dialogue] partner," Mr Chung said, upon his return to Seoul.

It was not clear what Mr Kim meant by this term. The North has previously accused Washington of harbouring a "hostile policy" towards it, and says it needs nuclear weapons in case the US attacks it.

Mr Chung, who was in the North for the anniversary of a landmark meeting between the two Koreas, was the first senior South Korean official to meet Mr Kim in more than three years.

He carried a message for Mr Kim from South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, promising economic aid to the North if it decided to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, a presidential aide told Yonhap news agency.

US threat

Mr Kim rarely meets visitors from the outside world so his agreement at the last minute to meet the South Korean minister was significant.

He may have seen the meeting as an opportunity to improve ties with the South at a time of growing pressure from the US.

Washington is warning of more coercive measures if the North does not return to talks soon.

But South Korea has consistently opposed sanctions.

Mr Chung earlier met the North's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam.

He outlined the potential rewards for the North if it gave ground over its nuclear weapons programme.

Mr Kim said his country would regard the US as a friend if it recognised its current communist system. But, he said, there was no sign at the moment that the US had changed its "hostile policy".

Even if the North does rejoin six-party talks on its nuclear programme, their success in persuading Pyongyang to renounce its atomic ambitions are by no means guaranteed.

Three rounds of such talks have been held since August 2003 without making much progress.