GENEVA ? The start of a second day of talks between U.S. and North Korean diplomats on Pyongyang's nuclear program was delayed without explanation Tuesday, a day after the top U.S. envoy reported some progress in narrowing differences between the two sides.
U.S. officials said North Korea had asked the American delegation to come to its U.N. mission in Geneva "for a working lunch and an afternoon session." The talks had been scheduled to start at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT; 4 a.m. EST).
North Korean officials couldn't be reached for comment.
In the closely watched meetings, the second direct encounter between the two parties in less than three months, diplomats from both sides are trying to determine whether the so-called six-party nuclear talks, which include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea in addition to North Korea and the United States, can resume.
The top U.S. envoy, Stephen Bosworth, said late Monday night that the discussions are also touching on other long-standing issues, such as urgently needed food aid for the North, families long separated on the Korean peninsula and the remains of troops missing in action. The U.S. and North Korea are still technically at war.
The U.N.'s top relief official, Valerie Amos, said Monday after visiting North Korea that it was "not appropriate" for the nuclear talks in Switzerland to extend to humanitarian assistance to the chronically hungry Asian country because that aid "must be kept separate from a political agenda." The U.N. is calling on countries to provide $218 million in emergency aid to North Korea.
The first day of talks was hosted by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The U.S. delegation was being hosted Tuesday at the North Koreans' U.N. mission, on the opposite side of Lake Geneva, where Bosworth's counterpart is First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan. Bosworth is accompanied by Glyn Davies, the U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, who is taking over the negotiating brief in future talks.
At his hotel late Monday night, Bosworth told reporters he was "neither optimistic nor pessimistic" with one day left for discussions.
"I think we're moving in a positive direction. We have narrowed some differences, but we still have differences that we have to resolve," he said at the elegant lakeside hotel where both parties are staying.
"As you know, our goal is to try to find a solid foundation on which to launch a resumption of discussions both bilateral and multilateral, and we will continue to work hard to bring that about," Bosworth said. "We have made some progress, we have issues still to resolve and we will work hard to do that."
U.S. diplomats want North Korea to adhere to a 2005 agreement it reneged on requiring verifiable denuclearization in exchange for better relations with its Asian neighbors. China, North Korea's closest ally, has urged Pyongyang to improve its strained ties with the United States and South Korea.
Beijing wants to revive the stalled six-nation disarmament negotiations. North Korea walked out on the talks in 2009 ? and exploded a second nuclear-test device ? but now wants to re-engage. Last year, Pyongyang also was blamed for two military attacks on South Korea that heightened tensions on the peninsula.
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