WASHINGTON -- U.S. and North Korean nuclear envoys will meet early next week in Asia to try again to reach an agreement on Pyongyang's acknowledgement of its nuclear weapons programs, informed sources here said Thursday.
Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state, and Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's deputy foreign minister, will meet at a Southeast Asian city, according to the sources, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
They would not go into the venue in detail.
Hill, who is currently touring Asia, will stay in the region, they said.
It will be the second set of envoys' talks in less than a month. They met last in Geneva, where they came close to an agreement, but Kim changed his stance after what appeared to be Pyongyang's rejection of Washington's proposal.
Pyongyang was required to submit a declaration of its nuclear inventory and any proliferation activities by Dec. 31, a commitment it made in agreements with South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
The declaration is a critical part of the deals that envision eventual nuclear dismantlement of North Korea, suspected of having up to six atomic weapons plus fissile material and technology to make more.
But the North missed the deadline and has been reluctant to address its alleged uranium enrichment program, an alternative to using plutonium for atomic weapons, and suspected nuclear transfers to other countries.
Washington and Pyongyang have since been working on compromise language to address these issues.