North Korea's number two leader in China amid pessimism over nuclear talks

BEIJING (AFP) - A North Korean delegation headed by the Stalinist state's number two leader arrived in China amid faltering attempts to resolve the standoff over the North's nuclear weapons program.
Kim Yong-Nam landed at Beijing International Airport, where he was greeted by North Korean embassy staff, Chinese officials and a small honor guard, according to a journalist present at the scene.
Kim, on "an official goodwill visit" to Beijing at the invitation of China's legislature and cabinet, was expected to meet top lawmaker Wu Bangguo later Monday, followed by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday.
Kim is the head of North Korea's legislature and nominally the country's second most powerful man, although the entire political system is built around the personal authority of supreme leader Kim Jong-Il.
He is accompanied by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-Il, who previously headed the North Korean delegation at six-country talks on the nuclear issue in Beijing, Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
China is apparently stepping up efforts to salvage the talks. It sent a senior official to Pyongyang last month, which bore little fruit.
After three rounds of inconclusive negotiations, North Korea failed to turn up for a fourth round of multilateral talks scheduled for Beijing last month.
North Korea has boycotted the talks to protest South Korea's controversial nuclear experiments and Washington's "hostile policy" towards it.
Some observers believe the secretive regime is waiting for the outcome of next month's US presidential election before returning to negotiations.
China's special envoy for North Korean affairs, Ning Fukui, met last week with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and other senior US diplomats in Washington and found little reason for optimism.
The US State Department said subsequently that "as far as we know, the situation remains stalled, with North Korea not prepared to live up to its commitments to come back to talks".
While the nuclear issue is likely to be high on the agenda of Kim's visit, he is also expected to discuss ways in which North Korea's disastrous economy can learn from China's experience with reform.
This is reflected in the membership of his delegation, which includes Ri Ju-O, minister of light industry, and Kim Yong-Jae, vice-minister of foreign trade, according to KCNA.
It is also reflected in his itinerary, with a stop Monday at a science park in the north of Beijing that is often referred to as China's Silicon Valley.
His entourage arrived at the Zhongguancun International Incubator Inc., part of the science park, in mid-afternoon and was given an explanation of the firm's scope and function.
The "government-guided, market-oriented" incubator, intended to help foster the development of new domestic high-tech firms, was founded in December 2000.
From May 2001 through 2003, the incubator attracted more than 350 returned students who started up 283 high-tech enterprises, acording to company promotional material.
On Tuesday Kim is due to visit Hancunhe village an hour's drive outside the capital, which is being promoted as a model community that has succeeded in drastically raising the standard of living of its residents.
North Korea, beset by mismanagement and an unfavorable agricultural geography, is seen as keen to emulate China, which improved the lives of its massive peasant population especially in the early years of reform.