US, N Korea hold direct nuke talks

GENEVA—Top negotiators from the United States and North Korea met on Saturday for two days of talks meant to advance an international drive to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan did not speak to the press on arrival at the U.S. mission in Geneva, where the first day of the weekend talks began.
Their session, aimed at normalizing relations between the countries that fought each other in the 1950-53 Korean War, is expected to focus on how the Stalinist state will disable and account for its nuclear facilities, as promised in a February “six-party” deal.
Hill has also signaled Washington was ready to talk about dropping North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. That designation imposes a ban on arms-related sales and keeps North Korea from getting some types of aid.
“We will be figuring out at what stage that could be done,” he told reporters on his arrival in the Swiss city on Thursday. “I’m not prepared to say precisely when it could be done at this point, but obviously it’s an important issue with respect to our working group.” Hill is due to hold a news conference after Saturday’s session, and at the end of the weekend meetings on Sunday. Kim has not scheduled any formal encounters with the press. He told Reuters Television at the North Korean mission late on Thursday: “It should be a good meeting, I hope.”
North Korea agreed in principle in 2005 in six-way talks with South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States to abandon its nuclear program in return for economic and diplomatic benefits, though progress has been slow since.—Agencies