Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (L, front) talks with Choe Yong Rim (R, front), Premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), at a welcoming banquet in Pyongyang, capital of the DPRK, Oct. 23, 2011.Photo: Xinhua

US and North Korean delegations kicked off direct talks in Geneva Monday on reviving the Six-Party nuclear dialogue, as Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang visited North Korea and stressed the importance of Pyongyang improving ties with Seoul and Washington.

The talks were held at the US mission in Geneva, respectively led by US special representative Stephen Bosworth and North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan. It is their second direct engagement in three months after the first one in New York in July.

"We had initial presentations of our respective positions, and I think these were useful presentations," Clifford Hart, a US special envoy attending the two-day talks, told reporters after Monday's meeting, without elaborating.

AFP commented that Monday's meeting was a further sign of easing tensions between the two sides, although analysts expected little chance of a breakthrough.

Liu Ming, Director of the Center for Korea Studies at the Institute of Asia Pacific Studies under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that regardless of its outcome, the latest engagement was another step toward the resumption of the Six-Party Talks.

"The two sides are struggling over whether North Korea should halt uranium enrichment as a precondition for the restart of the multilateral talks. I think Pyongyang will finally accept the terms, but will demand food aid and light-water reactors provided by the US in return," Liu told the Global Times.

He added that Pyongyang seeks a favorable international environment before the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung on April 15, and the US is likely to seize the opportunity to make some progress in resuming the nuclear dialogue.

Also Monday, on the second day of his visit to Pyongyang, Li told Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's top legislator, that China supports Pyongyang's efforts to improve the external environment, the US-North Korean dialogue and North-South relations, as well as resuming the Six-Party Talks.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed support for direct engagement between Pyongyang and Washington, adding that it hopes the contact would set a prerequisite for the resumption of nuclear negotiations.

However, in an opinion piece published Monday in Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lashed out at North Korea for "reckless and provocative" acts.

Panetta wrote that North Korea is among the common challenges shared by Washington and Tokyo in the Asia-Pacific because Pyongyang "continues to engage in reckless and provocative behavior and is developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, which pose a threat not just to Japan but to the entire region."

He also criticized China for "developing its military" and "expanding its presence in the region," adding that if any changes are made to US forces in the Pacific, it would be to "strengthen" their presence.

Panetta is on the second leg of his first Asian tour since becoming Pentagon chief in July. He arrived at the Yokota air base after visiting Indonesia. His next stop is South Korea.

Yang Bojiang, director of the Division for Korean Peninsula Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that Panetta's remarks were aimed at consolidating the US-Japan alliance and resonating with Japanese hardliners.
 
"Panetta's tough tone could cast a shadow and bring negative effects on the talks in Geneva and hinder China's efforts in engaging the two Koreas to help the nuclear dialogue resume," Yang said.

North Korea walked out of the Six-Party Talks in 2009 after the UN imposed fresh sanctions for a long-range missile test. It conducted a second nuclear test the following month.

The situation became more complicated after North Korean artillery troops shelled a South Korean island in November 2010 and killed four people there.

However, during his latest visits to China and Russia, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il repeatedly expressed Pyongyang's willingness to return to the nuclear talks.

Separately, Li will pay a two-day visit to South Korea starting tomorrow, days after three Chinese vessels, together with 31 fishermen, were seized and detained by South Korean maritime police on Saturday.

China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu Monday urged Seoul to properly handle the issue and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese crew.

"China urges Seoul to avoid the use of violence in the law enforcement process," Jiang said, adding that Beijing will closely follow the progress of the event.

The marine police agency in Mokpo told the Global Times that one of the three boats has already been freed, while the other two were under investigation.

A coastguard spokeswoman in Mokpo told AFP that the 21 Chinese fishermen would be released as soon as they pay a fine for fishing illegally in South Korean waters.