Report: N. Korea Not Planning More Tests

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Pyongyang didn't plan to carry out any more nuclear tests and expressed some regret about the country's first-ever atomic detonation last week, South Korean news reports said Friday.

Kim told Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan that "we have no plans for additional nuclear tests," Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in Beijing.

A South Korean newspaper reported Friday that Kim had told the Chinese envoy that the North would return to nuclear talks if Washington drops financial sanctions.

"If the U.S. makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks," Kim was quoted as saying by the Chosun Ilbo, which cited diplomatic sources in China.

CBS News reporter Celia Hatton in Beijing said, according to the newspaper, Kim had apologized to the Chinese government for having put them in a difficult situation by conducting the test.

"He is sorry about the nuclear test," the Chosun Ilbo quoted Kim as saying.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told reporters the visit "increased mutual understanding. Everyone discussed how to restart progress in the six-party talks as quickly as possible." Li didn't say whether Kim took part in discussion of resuming the nuclear talks.

The apparent endorsement of talks stood in contrast to North Korea's public rhetoric, which has been stridently provocative, since the Oct. 9 nuclear test unsettled the region and set off a flurry of shuttle diplomacy to get Pyongyang to desist.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in China as part of a diplomacy push among North Korea's neighbors, met Tang on Friday.

Tang, who delivered a letter and gift to Kim from Chinese president Hu Jintao, told Rice that he returned from Pyongyang Thursday night.

"Fortunately my visit this time has not been in vain," Tang told Rice, as reporters watched, before the two officials began their latest round of consultations on the North Korean nuclear issue.

Tang's comments were the first public remarks about his trip. His mission marked the first time a foreign envoy was known to have met Kim since his regime tested a nuclear device on Oct. 9.

Earlier, Rice and China's foreign minister called for resumed talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program and appealed to the North for restraint amid fears it might conduct a second test.

Rice and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said they agreed on enforcing U.N. sanctions imposed for the North's Oct. 9 nuclear test. But they gave no indication they agreed on tougher measures. China has been reluctant to push its isolated ally too hard for fear it might collapse.

"We hope all relevant parties will maintain coolheadedness, adopt a responsible approach and adhere to peaceful dialogue as the main approach," Li said at a joint appearance before reporters.

Rice flew to Beijing after visiting Tokyo and Seoul on a regional tour to lobby for support in enforcing U.N. sanctions imposed on the North last week. She said she and Li discussed the importance of enforcing the sanctions to prevent "trade in illegal materials, dangerous materials."

"We also talked about the importance of leaving open a path to negotiations through the six-party talks," Rice said. The talks, which include the United States, the two Koreas, host China, Japan and Russia, have been stalled since late 2005.

Rice's conciliatory tone appeared to be aimed at keeping Beijing's cooperation, which is key to enforcing any sanctions.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey says China undoubtedly holds the strongest diplomatic card when it comes to negotiating with North Korea, due to the two countries strong economic ties and Beijing's ability to sever them, by cutting off oil, for example.

Their reluctance to take such drastic action reflects national interests; they simply don't want the hassle of a collapsed neighbor, reports Pizzey, who adds that some analysts in the region believe the Chinese are the ones really running the show.

Peter Beck, the director of the International Crisis Group's North East Asia Project told CBS News that the future of the six-party talks depend on China.

"It's unfortunate that Washington has decided to subcontract its foreign policy to China," he said, "but it's true that China does have the carrots and the sticks and at times a willingness to use them, particularly if it's worried about the situation spiraling out of control."

The North has boycotted the talks since the United States imposed sanctions last year on North Korean companies accused of counterfeiting American currency and money-laundering and on a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau that dealt with them.

Kim also apologized for the nuclear test to the Chinese envoy, the newspaper reported.

Tang's delegation included Beijing's nuclear envoy Wu Dawei and Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, according to Liu.

Also Friday, employees of Chinese banks said they have suspended financial transactions to North Korea under orders from Beijing. China is the North's main trading partner, and the step could be a serious blow to its frail economy.

In Seoul, Rice said it was up to each country to decide how to comply with the U.N. sanctions approved after the Oct. 9 test. China and South Korea have balked at inspecting cargo on ships sailing to and from the North. Beijing said that could unnecessarily provoke Pyongyang.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to counter U.S. aggression.

The United States has repeatedly said it does not intend to attack the North.

The two Koreas are technically at war, since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire.

The North's test challenges U.S.-South Korean ties, long strained by differences about how to deal with Pyongyang. The U.S. wants a tougher line, while Seoul is reluctant to inflame tensions.

Rice has reassured Seoul that the U.S. will defend the country if the North attacks. She brought a similar message to Japan, her first stop on a four-day trip devoted mostly to talks on the nuclear crisis.

Rice has also reaffirmed U.S. President George W. Bush's pledge, made after the North's underground test blast, "that the United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range — and I underscore the full range — of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan."