DPRK leader, China pres discuss issues of eco cooperation

BEIJING, May 26 (Itar-Tass) -- DPRK Leader Kim Jong-il and Chinese
President Hu Jintao discussed on Wednesday issues of development of
economic cooperation and China's aid to Pyongyang. Kim Jong-il's visit to
China coincided with a trip of a US governmental delegation to the North
Korean capital which raised the issue of food shortages in the North of
the Korean Peninsula, the Beijing-based newspaper Global Times writes on
Thursday. This is the only newspaper which was allowed to cover the DPRK
leader's stay in China.
"The stay of Kim Jong-ilin China is focussed on discussion of economic
cooperation and aid since food shortages make North Korea ask for aid
abroad," expert in Korean issues of the Central Party School of the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Zhang Ziangui told Global
Times. Speaking about possible food aid for the DPRK, the Chinese expert
said that the international community "is always confronted with the
dilemma: on the one hand, it is necessary to help starving people on the
humanitarian basis, on the other hand, there is a concern that this aid
will be used for needs of the army and the government or for financing of
the nuclear programme."
Another important topic of talks in Beijing was most likely connected
with the resumption of the six-party talks on the nuclear problem of the
Korean Peninsula, in which the DPRK, the United States, China, the
Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan take part. According to experts, the
provision of considerable aid to Pyongyang on the part of the West is
impossible without resuming these talks.