Kim: Sanctions Could Be My Downfall

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told President Hu Jintao of China during his visit to China last month, “My regime could fall if the U.S. imposes economic sanctions,” Japan’s Kyodo News reported Saturday.

According to a diplomatic source in New York, the North’s reclusive leader made the remark after Hu suggested he de-link economic sanctions as a prerequisite for North Korea’s return to the six-party talks.

Last year, the United States imposed sanctions on a Macau-based bank on charges of being a front for North Korean money laundering, and on North Korean companies for allegedly engaging in arms smuggling.

Kwang-Am Cheon iam@donga.com