N. Korea's Kim says ready to resume nuclear talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il repeated his readiness to return to stalled nuclear talks "without any preconditions" in an interview with the Russian state news agency Itar-Tass published on Wednesday.

The comments came amid a flurry of intensified diplomacy by Russia, China and the United States on trying to end North Korea's nuclear programme after talks collapsed in late 2008. (Reuters)