N. Korean official, U.S. experts hold informal nuke talks in London

LONDON, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's chief negotiator to the stalled six-party talks and U.S. civilian experts on the Korean Peninsula held informal talks in London on the current impasse surrounding the communist country's nuclear ambitions, sources said Wednesday.

The meeting comes as Pyongyang has repeatedly called for unconditional talks to resolve the nuclear standoff, although Washington has made clear that the North must first show its firm commitment to past denuclearization pledges before meaningful negotiations can resume.

Sources said Ri Yong-ho, the North's senior delegate to the six-party negotiations, met Stephen Bosworth, former top U.S. negotiator on North Korea's nuclear program, and Joseph Detrani, former mission manager at the Director of National Intelligence.

They did not give details on what was discussed at the first round of two-day-long talks that were held behind closed doors.

After the meeting, Bosworth told reporters that he was pleased with the event and that both sides touched on issues pertaining to bilateral relations.

He, however, emphasized that because he attended the meeting as a civilian, he was not at liberty to talk about details at present.

The former official hinted that after all talks are concluded, he may explain what was discussed.

Bosworth's comments were echoed by Ri, who likewise declined to elaborate on details but confirmed that talks touched on resumption of six-party talks that have been suspended since late 2008.

Besides the two Koreas, the talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program, involves the United States, China, Japan and Russia. North Korea walked away from the forum in a dispute over how to verify steps it was supposed to take to disarm.

North Korea watchers said that while the talks were informal and no U.S. official took part in the discussions, they provided a channel of communication between Pyongyang and Washington that can allow policymakers from each side to gauge intent of each other.

Meanwhile, in the talks held in Berlin last month, former State Department official Joel Wit said the North was very much interested in Washington's stance on the nuclear issue and that he personally was interested in finding out why the North called for talks at this juncture.

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