US, North Korean diplomats attend meetings in Beijing

Choe Son Hui, third from left, deputy director general of the Department of US Affairs of North Korea Foreign Ministry, prepares to sit as Sung Kim, special representative for North Korean Policy of the US Department of State, left, arrives to attend the 26th Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Beijing, China, Wednesday, June 22, 2016. Participants from China, US, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Russia are expected to discuss the development and peace of Northeast Asia. AP

BEIJING — Diplomats from the US and North Korea are attending a six-nation security forum in Beijing in a rare opportunity for contact between the sides.

Despite their joint attendance at Wednesday’s event, the US State Department has said there were no plans for direct talks between the US special representative for North Korea policy Sung Kim, and North Korea’s deputy director general of its Foreign Ministry’s Department of US Affairs, Choe Son Hui.

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The conference is described as a multilateral forum involving high-level policymakers, defense ministry officials, military officers, and researchers from China, Japan, North and South Korea, Russia, and the United States.

The nations taking part had participated in years of talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament that have been stalled since 2008, with little apparent prospect of a resumption.

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