Chinese premier given lavish welcome by N. Korea’s Kim

Kim greeted Wen Jiabao personally at the city’s airport, embracing him on a red carpet and standing beside him as a military band played their country’s respective national anthems. Wen was then driven into the capital in an open-topped car as residents lining the streets danced, waved bunches of flowers, and shouted greetings.

The lavish welcome was a rare honor for a nonhead of state, underscoring the importance the North places on its communist neighbors and offering a strong indication that it is planning to reengage its negotiating partners after boycotting talks while threatening nuclear war and conducting nuclear and missile tests.

Although Wen’s three-day visit is officially being held to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations, analysts say they doubt he would have agreed to the trip without assurances of new talks.

Kim has reportedly expressed a willingness to engage in “bilateral and multilateral talks,’’ although it’s unclear if that indicates a willingness to rejoin stalled six-nation disarmament talks that also involve the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Russia.

China hosts the talks and continues to promote them as the best forum for dealing with the issue. Pyongyang, however, is believed to favor direct negotiations with the United States.

At a later meeting with North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il, Wen repeated China’s position that a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula is in everybody’s best interest and pledged to strengthen contacts with Pyongyang on the matter, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Kim responded by saying the North had “never given up’’ on denuclearization and wished to achieve it through “bilateral and multilateral dialogue,’’ CCTV said. The report made no mention of any solid commitment to rejoin talks.

During his visit, Wen is overseeing a series of agreements on trade and other bilateral issues, will meet with top leaders, and attend events commemorating historical ties.

A commitment to a return to talks during Wen’s visit would be a solemn sign of respect for China, the most important source of economic aid and diplomatic support for the North’s reclusive communist regime.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said Beijing would not have sent Wen without prior assurances from Pyongyang on an announcement over nuclear talks.

Yang said that at the least, the North would announce it would respect past international disarmament accords, indicating it intends to return to the talks. He said an announcement will most likely follow Wen’s meeting with Kim Jong Il, scheduled for today.

Yang and others said they expect China to promise additional aid in return.

“North Korea has found that there is need to stabilize the situation now, as it has done everything it wanted to do, such as a nuclear test,’’ said Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.

“China would also consider getting North Korea to rejoin the six-party talks its diplomatic achievement.’’

Under the six-nation framework, North Korea pledged in September 2005 to dismantle its nuclear programs in exchange for pledges of energy assistance and diplomatic concessions.