A Japanese daily says North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reacted positively to U.S. President George W. Bush’s recent State of the Union address.

Quoting sources in Beijing, the Tokyo Shimbun said Friday that Kim expressed his satisfaction when he met Chinese official Wang Jiarui in Pyongyang last month. Wang oversees the international department of China's Communist Party.

Kim told Wang it was noteworthy that Bush did not criticize the North during his annual address to the American people this month.

The report added that the reclusive leader is closely watching for any changes the U.S. might make as it prepares to choose a new president.

The daily said Kim also told the Chinese official that Pyongyang was not to blame for the delay in nuclear dismantlement efforts, apparently suggesting that Pyongyang is seeking its removal from a U.S. terrorism blacklist.

During his State of the Union address on February first, Bush kept silent on the North, which he had once labeled a member of the so-called “axis of evil.”

The Washington Post said the fact that Bush did not mention the North reflected his decision to negotiate an end to that country's nuclear weapons program, rather than squeeze it into submission.