North Korean soldiers stand before a portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung as they visit a 'Kimilsungia' flower festival in Pyongyang on Thursday. North Korea is marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which ran from 1950 to 1953, with a series of performances, festivals, and cultural events culminating with a large military parade. Photo: AFP

Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao paid homage to Chinese soldiers who died fighting in the Korean War on Friday during his trip in North Korea, a day after he reaffirmed China's commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

On his four-day trip to North Korea to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement, Li, together with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, laid wreaths before the Korea-China Friendship Tower in Pyongyang and the Cemetery of the Fallen Fighters of the Chinese People's Volunteers in Hoechang county, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The cemetery contains the grave of Mao Anying, son of Chairman Mao Zedong.

During a meeting with Kim a day earlier, Li, the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit North Korea since Kim Jong-un took office, reiterated China's commitment to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, calling for the resumption of the long-stalled Six-Party Talks.

Li said China would like to push for the resumption of the Six-Party Talks and devote itself to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula together with all related parties, in a bid to achieve peace in the region, Xinhua reported.

In response, Kim said North Korea supported China's efforts to restart the Six-Party Talks, and would like to make efforts with all parties to protect the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, according to Xinhua.

While China is sincerely pushing for the resumption of Six-Party Talks for the safety and stability of the Korean Peninsula, Cui Zhiying, dean of the Center for Korean Peninsula Studies at Tongji University in Shanghai, said the North Korean leader should show more sincerity in his remarks to create conditions for the resumption of talks.

"The ultimate goal of the Six-Party Talks is to achieve denuclearization of the peninsula, which Kim did not mention in his remarks," he told the Global Times, adding that the remarks were no different from those made by his two envoys to China in May.

Washington has said that there will not be any talks unless Pyongyang takes some actions to show it is moving toward denuclearization. Seoul has also made similar statements.

If the North is really willing to resume the talks, Cui said it should at least accept the agreements already reached during the previous rounds of Six-Party Talks, in which Pyongyang has pledged to move toward disarmament step by step.

Meanwhile, Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that South Korea and the US should also loosen their preconditions for talks and respect the North's security concerns.

Although China is concerned by North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Beijing's top priority remains regional stability, Lü noted.

The Six-Party Talks involve North and South Korea, the US, Japan, Russia and China. It has been suspended since 2008 after Pyongyang withdrew from the talks.

South Korea and the US will both commemorate the anniversary on Saturday and pay tribute to soldiers from both countries who fought for the South. US President Barack Obama will give a speech on Saturday at the Korean War memorial in Washington DC.