Kim made the statement during talks on Thursday with Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, who visited North Korea as an envoy of President Hu Jintao, the agency quoted an unidentified "informed diplomatic source" as saying in Beijing [Images].

Tang told told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [Images] on Friday that his talks with Kim were "not in vain" in an apparently optimistic summary of China's efforts to persuade North Korea to return to talks and halt its nuclear-weapons programme.

"Fortunately, my visit this time has not been in vain," he told Rice before their closed-door talks in Beijing, but the envoy who visited Pyongyang Thursday gave no further indication of Kim's response to international calls for dialogue.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the issue had reached a "crossroads" as both sides urged North Korea to return to talks on ending its nuclear programme.

Earlier, Rice and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged North Korea to return "without condition" to six-nation talks aimed at negotiating an end to its nuclear-weapons programme.

Rice said both sides reiterated their commitment to reviving the stalled talks, which have involved the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, Japan [Images] and Russia [Images]. (DPA)