US diplomats have arrived in Geneva for talks with North Korean officials about Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. It is the second direct encounter within three months between the two countries.

The "exploratory" meeting is aimed at keeping North Korea engaged in discussions but is not quite the beginning of formal negotiations, US officials have said.

The North Korean delegation, which is headed by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, was in Russia and China before heading to Geneva to meet the US delegation that is led by the top US envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, and Glyn Davies, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Back to the negotiating table

The US wants North Korea to adhere to a 2005 agreement requiring verifiable denuclearization in exchange for economic and diplomatic incentives. Pyongyang has stirred regional tension with its nuclear arms ambitions, missile tests and deadly confrontations across the divided peninsula. The talks might also touch upon ongoing issues such as food aid to the North, the reuniting of families on either side of the border on the Korean peninsula.

China also wants North Korea to deepen its talks with the US and South Korea, amid fears instability could be fuelled by a frayed and isolated economy. However, on Monday, during a three-day visit to North Korea, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Beijing would remain a firm ally of Pyongyang's. "China supports North Korea maintaining a correct focus on engagement and dialogue," he was quoted as saying by China's Xinhua news agency.

Beijing considers the North a vital bulwark against the influence of the US and its allies, but has also been building up ties with Seoul since South Korea is an important trade partner.

Only on certain conditions

Last week, North Korea reiterated its calls for the immediate resumption of six-nation disarmament-for-aid talks but Washington insists that this will only occur if Pyongyang freezes its nuclear programs, allows access to UN inspectors, halts further nuclear and missile tests and promises not to attack South Korea again.

The six-party talks that bring together China, Japan, Russia, both Koreas and the US were stalled again after North Korea conducted a long-range missile test that met with international condemnation in 2009.

Author: Anne Thomas (AP, Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan