North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has coupled a statement of regret over the country's nuclear test with the announcement that Pyongyang would return to international nuclear talks if Washington backs off a campaign to financially isolate the country.
"If the US makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks," Kim was quoted as telling a Chinese envoy, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo reported, citing a diplomatic source in China.
Kim told the Chinese delegation that "he is sorry about the nuclear test," the newspaper reported.
The delegation led by State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met Kim on Thursday and returned to Beijing later that day, ahead of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival in the Chinese capital Friday. China, as the reclusive communist country's principal trading partner, is viewed as a key nation in efforts to persuade North Korea to disarm.
North Korea has long insisted that the US desist from a campaign to sever its ties to the international financial system, while Washington accuses Pyongyang of complicity in counterfeiting and money laundering to sell weapons of mass destruction.
It has also refused since last November to return to the nuclear talks, which also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Pyongyang has sought to bolster its negotiating position by a series of provocative actions, test-firing a barrage of missiles in July and performing its first-ever nuclear test on 9 October.
