North Korea delegation heads to U.N.

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Momentum to revive stalled nuclear talks picked up as a North Korean delegation headed to the United Nations, observers said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told visiting Chinese envoys Friday that he is opening to resolving his country's nuclear disputes with its neighbors through "bilateral or multilateral talks," the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, dropping a hint that Pyongyang may rejoin the suspended six-way denuclearization talks with South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.

Meanwhile, the North's Korean Central News Agency said Saturday that a delegation led by Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil-yon left Pyongyang Friday to attend the 64th U.N. General Assembly, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

"It sounds as if North Korea is underscoring that it will accept those conditions," Kurt Campbell, assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, told reporters in Tokyo, Yonhap said.

North Korea, which had promised to end its attempts to build a nuclear weapon in exchange for diplomatic and economic benefits, quit the six-way talks in April to protest U.N. sanctions imposed over a long-range rocket test.