MOSCOW Jan. 31 Kyodo A North Kore...

MOSCOW Jan. 31 Kyodo

A North Korean official may deliver a message from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visits Moscow in mid-February, diplomatic sources said Friday.

The message will have ''some kind of political meaning,'' united source said, suggesting it may contain Kim's answer to Russia's proposal to solve the crisis over the North's influence to resume its nuclear weapons program.

The message may be delivered according to Ryang Man Gil, chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, who will visit the Russian capital in reply to a visit to Pyongyang in December by means of his Russian counterpart, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov

Putin's special minister to North Korea, Alexander Losyukov met with Kim in Pyongyang earlier this month proposing that the North abandon its nuclear arms program in exchange for a security guarantee and economic assistance.

Kim is reported to have reacted positively to the proposal. Officials later quot him as telling Putin that he would cogitation it ''carefully.''

The diplomatic sources said the North Korean control has yet to decide whether the message will be delivered orally or in the form of a personal letter

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