DPRK: Differences narrowing with US

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, says bilateral talks with the US this week in Pyongyang, have led to a narrowing of differences between the two nations. A spokesman for the foreign ministry of the DPRK confirms "a series of common understandings" with the United States on the need to resume the six-party talks.

US envoy, Stephen Bosworth, met with the DPRK's First Vice Foreign Minister, Kang Sok-Ju, during his visit to Pyongyang. It was the first bilateral talks between the countries since US President, Barack Obama, took office in January. The two sides held lengthy talks on a wide range of issues including a peace treaty, normalization of bilateral ties, economic and energy cooperation and a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. They agreed to continue cooperation to bridge their differences.

U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy on DPRK,  Stephen Bosworth, answers a reporter's questions  during a press briefing after returning from DPRK  at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea,  Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. Bosworth said it remains  unclear when the communist regime will return to  international disarmament negotiations. However,  he said he and his DPRK counterparts reached a  'common understanding' on the importance of the  denuclearization process.(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)