Kim sorry for tests, says no more planned

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Pyongyang didn8217;t plan to carry out any more nuclear tests and expressed regret about the country8217;s first-ever atomic detonation last week, a South Korean news agency reported

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Pyongyang didn8217;t plan to carry out any more nuclear tests and expressed regret about the country8217;s first-ever atomic detonation last week, a South Korean news agency reported on Friday.

North Korea, however, kept up its bellicose rhetoric as more than 100,000 people gathered on Friday in Pyongyang8217;s central Kim Il Sung square to 8220;hail the success of the historic nuclear test,8221; according to the North8217;s official media.

Kim told envoy Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan that 8220;we have no plans for additional nuclear tests,8221; Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in Beijing.

Kim also told the Chinese that 8220;he is sorry about the nuclear test,8221; the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo daily reported, citing a diplomatic source in China. The North Korean leader also raised the possibility the country would return to arms talks.

8220;If the US makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks,8221; Kim was quoted as telling a Chinese envoy, the newspaper reported.

The delegation led by Tang met Kim on Thursday and returned to Beijing later that day. Meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Beijing on Friday, Tang said his trip had 8220;not been in vain.8221;

China is viewed as a key nation in efforts to persuade the North to disarm, as it is the isolated communist nation8217;s main trading partner and provides almost all of its oil, and it is weighing tough options. Government experts have called for the reduction of critical supplies of oil and food.

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A North Korean official, meanwhile, defended last week8217;s nuclear test and said Pyongyang would 8220;crush US imperialists8217; schemes with its self-defensive power.8221;

8220;No matter how the US imperialists try to stifle and isolate our republic8230; victory will be on the side of justice,8221; said Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers8217; Party of Korea, according to the North8217;s official Korean Central News Agency8217;s Korean-language report.