US, North Korea meet for direct nuke talks

Finance experts from the two nations met in Beijing to discuss a drawn-out dispute over US sanctions on the North that the cash-strapped nation has said must be resolved before it will consider surrendering its nuclear arms.

They met for three hours on the sidelines of six-nation talks aimed at convincing North Korea to disarm, which resumed only on Monday after a 13-month suspension caused by Pyongyang's objections to the sanctions.

The restart of the talks came after North Korea conducted its first-ever atomic test on October 9. Kim Jong-Il's regime celebrated the test as a major national achievement but the detonation triggered international condemnation.

As the financial teams huddled down in Beijing Tuesday, officials said the chief US and North Korean envoys to the six-nation forum met separately for their first formal face-to-face encounter since the talks restarted.

While no details were immediately available on what was discussed in both meetings, US envoy Christopher Hill said earlier Tuesday that the day's events would be vital in determining if Pyongyang may be prepared to disarm.