US, NKorea in first nuclear talks since Kim death

The United States and North Korea met for a second day of talks Friday on restarting nuclear disarmament in return for aid, negotiations that were delayed by the death of North Korea's longtime leader Kim Jong Il two months ago.             

The discussions, which ran all day Thursday, could signal whether North Korea under new leader Kim Jong Un is ready to agree to steps demanded by Washington and Pyongyang's neighbors to return to broader multinational disarmament talks. More than three years have passed since the last six-nation discussions, which are meant to provide aid and diplomatic concessions in return for the North taking verifiable steps to mothball its nuclear weapons programs.         

Kim's Dec. 17 death upended a tentative deal between the United States and North Korea in which Pyongyang would have suspended its uranium enrichment in return for food.           

U.S. envoy Glyn Davies told reporters before meeting his counterpart Kim Kye Gwan on Friday that the talks had covered all major areas.     

"All those same issues, that begin with de-nuclearization but go on to non-proliferation, humanitarian affairs, human rights, all of those issues are on the table," Davies told reporters.             

He and Kim met for three hours Friday morning. There was no immediate word on whether they would hold a second session that afternoon.    

The U.S.-North Korea talks in Beijing are the third round since July aimed at restarting the broader negotiations that began in 2003 and also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. The six-party talks were last held in December 2008. Pyongyang walked away from those talks in 2009 and later exploded its second nuclear device.     

AP