N. Korean leader renews call for resumption of nuclear talks without preconditions

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has pressed for the quick resumption of long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs without preconditions, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday.

Kim also repeated the North's longstanding stance that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a dying wish of his late father, the country's founder Kim Il-sung.

The North quit the disarmament-for-aid talks in April 2009 and conducted a second nuclear test a month later. But it has since repeatedly expressed its desire to return to the negotiating table without any preconditions. The talks involve South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

"Our principle position remains unchanged that the six-way talks should be quickly resumed without preconditions," Kim said in a written interview with Russia's Itar-Tass news agency last Thursday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also renewed his country's commitment to respecting a 2005 six-party deal in which Pyongyang promised to trade away nuclear programs for economic and political concessions.

Kim's comments are not new, but they come as North Korean and American officials are preparing to meet in Geneva next week for a second round of meetings on how to resume the nuclear talks.

Seoul and Washington have insisted, among other things, that Pyongyang halt its uranium enrichment program and allow U.N. inspectors back into the country before resuming the talks.

North Korea revealed in November that it is running a uranium enrichment facility. Highly enriched uranium can be used to make weapons, providing Pyongyang with a second way of building nuclear bombs in addition to the existing plutonium program.

Kim also said that his country possesses its nuclear deterrent to safeguard the country in response to what he claims are U.S. nuclear threats and increasingly hostile policy.

The North Korean leader was also open to the prospect of improved ties with the United States and Japan.

"We are willing to improve relations with the United States if the U.S. abandons hostile policy toward North Korea and treat us in good faith," Kim said.