North Korea envoy awaits chat with China's leader

On a visit to repair ties with China and waiting to meet its leader, a North Korean envoy paid deference Thursday to hopes by the North's chief ally for renewed multinational nuclear talks.

Choe Ryong Hae, at a meeting with Communist Party official Liu Yunshan, praised China's work on behalf of peace and stability and its "great efforts to return (Korean) peninsular issues to the channel of dialogue and negotiation."

North Korea "is willing to accept the suggestion of the Chinese side and launch dialogue with all relevant parties," Choe was quoted as saying by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

While Choe's remarks were vague and offered no hint of hoped-for concessions, they served as a public show of respect after half a year of rising frustration in Beijing at Pyongyang and its recent rocket and nuclear tests and other saber-rattling.

Diplomatic snubs and this month's seizure of a Chinese fishing crew, who were allegedly held for ransom by a North Korean military unit, have further soured the mood in Beijing and among the Chinese public.

In his comments to Choe, Liu called for "practical steps to alleviate the tense situation" and an early return to six-nation Korean denuclearization talks involving the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Japan and Russia, CCTV reported.

That process has been stalemated since 2009 over how to ensure North Korean compliance with agreed to measures to end its nuclear programs. Pyongyang rarely mentions the talks directly, while the U.S. has demanded solid indications that North Korea plans to end tensions and carry out its early commitments before agreeing to new discussions.

Despite Beijing's displeasure, Liu, the ruling party's fourth-ranking member, sounded upbeat on relations with China's communist neighbor, saying that "to strengthen and develop China-North Korea relations is the abiding stance of the Chinese party and government."

A vice marshal in the North Korean military, Choe was sent to Beijing on Wednesday on a fence-mending visit as a special envoy for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

As such, North Korea watchers say he is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. His comments Thursday will likely be seen by Beijing as setting the correct atmosphere of deference for such a meeting.

Xi was in southwest China's Sichuan province on Thursday overseeing earthquake recovery efforts and it wasn't clear when he planned to return to the capital.

Choe also spent part of Thursday touring an industrial park in southern Beijing, accompanied by a Communist Party functionary. China has long sought to convince the North to adopt its model of economic reform accompanied by rigid one-party rule.