DPRK official for Six-Party Talks attends NCAFP meeting in New York

NEW YORK, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ri Gun, the deputy negotiator in the stalled Six-Party Talks for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), attended a meeting held by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP), headquartered here, on Friday morning.

Ri Gun (R), the deputy negotiator in the stalled Six-Party Talks for the Demoractic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), shakes hands with George Schwab, president of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP), in New York, U.S., Oct. 30, 2009. Ri Gun attended a meeting held by the NCAFP in New York Oct. 30. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

Ri declined to speak to media when arriving at the NCAFP offices.

Neither Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for DPRK policy, nor Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for the Six-Party Talks on nuclear issues of the Korean peninsula, attended the NCAFP meeting.

The meeting was scheduled to be held at around 9 a.m local time, but was apparently postponed slightly.

NCAFP President George D. Schwab and Evans Revere, President of U.S. Korea Society, escorted Ri to the meeting, which was closed to the media.

Winston Lord, a former ambassador to China, and other senior experts on Asian affairs attended the meeting.

U.S. State Department spokesman Noel Clay said in a statement that Kim met with Ri Saturday.

"Ambassador Sung Kim took the opportunity to meet with him (Ri) in New York on Oct. 24 to convey our position on denuclearization and the six-party talks," Clay said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly on Thursday denied a report that Bosworth would visit Pyongyang next month.

He said no decision had been made yet for any further meeting between Kim and Ri after their talks last Saturday and their participation in the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue in San Diego.