US, North Korea hold first talks since Kim Jong Il's death
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Beijing - US and North Korean officials on Thursday held the first talks between the two nations since the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in December.
Diplomats from the two nations met for two and a half hours in the morning and opened a second session of talks mid-afternoon, US officials said.
The United States wanted to use the talks to "find out what the new leadership in North Korea is prepared to do" towards fulfilling promises to end its nuclear weapons programme under a 2005 six-nation agreement, Glyn Davies, the US special envoy for North Korea policy, said before the talks.
"Are they prepared to pick up where we left off from the New York meeting in July and the Geneva meeting in October?" Davies asked.
US officials hoped to make progress during Thursday's talks on denuclearization, non-proliferation and "humanitarian issues and human rights issues," he said.
"I find it a positive sign that relatively soon after the beginning of the (leadership) transition in North Korea, the DPRK has chosen to get back to the table with us," Davies said, referring to the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan led the North Korean delegation at the talks.//DPA
