N. Korea, U.S. start high-level talks

NEW YORK (Yonhap) - Senior North Korean and U.S. officials began talks here Thursday on ways to revive the six-way negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive.
"We will exchange wide-ranging views on regional security issue and concerns," the North's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan told reporters, heading to meet Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
Kim did not go into details, saying "(We) should speak after exchanging opinions (with the U.S.) and making efforts. It is early to say now."
Upon arriving at the venue at around 9:30 a.m., Kim shook hands with Bosworth who refused to answer reporters' questions.
Kim arrived in New York on Tuesday for the first meeting with Bosworth since December 2009, when he traveled to Pyongyang.
The State Department said earlier the delegations from the two nations, led by the veteran diplomats, will meet on Thursday and Friday. It did not reveal how long Kim will stay in the U.S.
Confirming the start of the talks, a department official told Yonhap News Agency, "Meetings should last throughout the day, probably end late afternoon or early evening."
There is no press availability planned at this time, the official added.
The six-party talks, launched in 2003 also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. The negotiations were last held in December 2008 in Beijing.