Seoul, Apr. 18 : Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has confessed that he feels fatigue from his tough schedule, the communist state''s official media said on Friday.

"A man is not made of iron and must take care of his own body. But I have no time to do so," the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun quoted Kim, long regarded as the country's benefactor, as saying.

Kim, 67, is widely believed to have suffered a stroke last August.

Tokyo - China has expressed a willingness to mediate in talks between North Korea and the United States on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, a Japanese media report said Friday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the Nikkei financial newspaper, "Maintaining the process is in the interest of each participant" of the six-party talks, which include Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia, China and the United States.

Many analysts see a breakthrough in relations between the United States and North Korea as necessary for the resumption of the six-nation talks.

Washington  - North Korea has taken a step toward further isolation by ending its cooperation with UN and US nuclear inspectors and requesting they leave the country, the US State Department said Wednesday.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the US team in North Korea to verify the disablement of the Stalinist country's nuclear programme was making plans to leave at Pyongyang's request.

Seoul, Apr. 15 : North Korea has asked IAEA inspectors to leave and said it will reactivate all its nuclear facilities.

The UN nuclear watchdog also confirmed that Tuesday that Pyongyang has quit the six-nation disarmament talks.

"The Democratic People''s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has informed IAEA inspectors in the Yongbyon facility that it is immediately ceasing all cooperation with the IAEA," spokesman Marc Vidricaire from the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.

Vienna - North Korea told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday to stop monitoring its nuclear facilities as the country wants to restart its nuclear programme, IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire said. "The inspectors have also been asked to leave the DPRK at the earliest possible time," Vidricaire said, referring to the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Washington - North Korea's decision to withdraw from the six-nation negotations on its nuclear programme and reconstitute its atomic activities is a "step in the wrong direction," the White House said Tuesday. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called on Pyongyang to live up to its agreement to abandon nuclear weapons after North Korea announced Tuesday it would no longer participate in the negotiations.