WASHINGTON (AFP) — New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson sent his senior advisor to North Korea Wednesday for talks on efforts to end the hardline communist state's nuclear weapons program.
K.A. Namkung, who would be in Pyongyang up to the weekend, was accompanied by several other Asia policy experts from the Unites States, a statement from Richardson's office said.
"Dr. Namkung travels to North Korea at a critical junction, as the US government has announced progress toward disabling the DPRK's nuclear facility," Richardson, a former US envoy to the United Nations, said using an abbreviation of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea announced Wednesday it had reached agreement with the United States on its promised nuclear declaration, an issue that has blocked progress in a six-nation disarmament deal, also involving China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
A foreign ministry spokesman quoted by state media said the two sides, during talks in Singapore Tuesday, also agreed on "political compensation" from Washington.
The North demands that the US start the process of removing it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, in return for a declaration.
Namkung was invited by North Korea's foreign ministry "to attend the discussion about North Korea's nuclear program," the statement said.
Richardson, a former Democratic candidate for president this year, has traveled twice to North Korea since 2005 to encourage Pyongyang to live up to its obligations to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons and programs.
He had also hosted North Korean diplomats for talks.
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