A top US official will meet a delegation from North Korea today

A top US official will meet a delegation from North Korea today for talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, in the first substantive contact between the two nations since leader Kim Jong-Il died.

Glyn Davies, coordinator for US policy on North Korea, will hold talks with veteran North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan in two separate meetings on issues such as denuclearization, non-proliferation and humanitarian affairs.

He will seek clarity on what policies North Korea’s new and as yet untested leader Kim Jong-Un plans for the isolated, impoverished state, as well as any signs from Pyongyang about a possible return to six-nation negotiations.

“My hope is that we can find a way to move forward with the North, because it’s in everyone’s interest to try to get on the next phase, which will be six-party talks,” Davies told reporters Wednesday after landing in Beijing.

North Korea abandoned six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program in 2009 because of what it described as US hostility.

The negotiations are chaired by China and also include Japan the two Koreas, Russia and the United States.

Source AFP