North Korea Promises No More Nuclear Tests

Associated Press Writer Burt Herman is reporting that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong II, has said that he doesn't plan to conduct any further nuclear tests.

"We have no plans for additional nuclear tests," Kim has been quoted as saying to a visiting Chinese envoy, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

According to reports, Kim made the comment in Pyongyang on Thursday to Tang Jiaxuan, who was sent by China's President Hu Jintao to convince the Stalinist state to not repeat a nuclear blast like the one North Korea tested on Oct. 9, which caused worldwide outrage.

If Kim repeats another nuclear test, China has warned that it will cut off life-giving oil supplies to North Korea, demonstrating how outraged China has become with its closest ally and political bedfellow.

Professions of Sorrow
Kim Jong II also reportedly apologized about the recent atom bomb testing. According to the Chosun Ilbo, a conservative mass-circulation daily, Kim told the Chinese that "he is sorry about the nuclear test," bringing up the possibility of the country resurrecting arms discussions.

"If the U.S. 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 saying.

Despite the North Korean leader's promising, more than 100,000 folks converged in today in the Kim II Sung square in central Pyongyang to "hail the success of the historic nuclear test."

Another North Korean official continued the rhetoric by saying that Pyongyang will "crush U.S. imperialists' schemes with its self-defensive power," and continued to endorse last week's nuclear test.

Rice Urges Caution
After the delegation that was led by Tang returned to Beijing, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Beijing on the third leg of a four-stop diplomatic Asian mission designed to urge other nations to stand against North Korea, said that North Korea has proffered nothing "surprising" during the talks with Chinese officials regarding Kim Jong-Il atomic bomb test.

"Fortunately my visit this time has not been in vain," Tang insisted, however.

"The Korean nuclear issue is at a crossroads," Rice was later told by Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. "The direction it takes will have a direct bearing on peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the world."

Meanwhile, Central Party School - a training academy for China's communist leadership - member Zhang Liangui recommended a more drastic measure for dealing with Kim Jong II.

"North Korea is China's biggest foreign policy failure of the past 50 years," Liangui said "China ought to cut off oil and food."