US envoy discusses North Korea issue in Seoul

The US envoy for policy toward North Korea visited South Korea to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear programme and other issues.

Sung Kim, who assumed the post of US special representative for North Korea policy last month, arrived in South Korea Thursday for his five-day trip to the country, Xinhua reported.

On Friday, he held talks with Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea's special representative for peace and security affairs on the Korean Peninsula.

The US has said that after the talks it would be a mistake if the parties involved in the talks rushed back to the long-stalled negotiations without assurances that North Korea is ready to work for a complete and verifiable de-nuclearisation.

He stressed the need for North Korea's verification of its promise to dismantle its nuclear programme.

The six-party talks, which involves China, North Korea, the US, South Korea, Russia and Japan, was initiated in Beijing in August 2003 but has been stalled since December 2008.

"North Korea has been ready to resume the six-party talks 'without preconditions'," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Nov 20 after talks with Choe Ryong Hae who made an eight-day visit to Russia as a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.