A top US envoy embarked on closed-door consultations with South Korean officials in Seoul today ahead of the resumption of high-level US-North Korean talks frozen for nearly two years.
Mr James Kelly, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was ushered into consultations with South Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-Hong and other top officials following his arrival from Tokyo this morning.
Mr Kelly's three-day visit to the communist North from tomorro wrepresents the highest level of sustained talks between Pyongyang and Washington since former secretary of state Ms Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang two years ago during the waning months of president Bill Clinton's second term.
Mr Kelly's arrival was marked by the biggest anti-US protest seen in the South Korean capital in months. More than 2,000 chanting students ringed by police demanded the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
Anti-US sentiment has been growing since President George W. Bush reversed US-North Korea reconciliation efforts undertaken by the Clinton administration.
He placed North Korea on the same level as Iraq and Iran as part of an "axis of evil" in a speech earlier this year, citing concerns about its nuclear programme, weapons proliferation, and human rights record.
AFP