North Korea's Kim pledges to remove nuclear weapons

While Kim Jong-il has made, and broken, similar pledges before, analysts said pressure has been mounting through U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear test last year, as well as a botched currency reform that the South said sparked inflation and rare civil unrest.

China's Xinhua news agency said Kim reiterated his country's "persistent stance to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" during a meeting Monday with senior Chinese official Wang Jiarui.

North Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, arrived in Beijing Tuesday, suggesting a possible resumption of stalled discussions hosted by China and including Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

"Dispatching Kim Kye-gwan indicates that some sort of understanding is being worked out between China and North Korea on restarting the nuclear talks," said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul.

China, the North's biggest benefactor, is seen as having the most influence on the reclusive state.