By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
South and North Korean envoys to the six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programs in Beijing discussed denuclearization and chilled inter-Korean relations Monday, a foreign ministry official said.
Top representatives from Seoul and Pyongyang at the six-nation denuclearization talks met one-on-one. South Korean chief negotiator Kim Sook and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, met for an ``earnest, substantial" discussion, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The inter-Korean meeting started around noon in Beijing and lasted more than an hour, according to a statement from the Ministry.
``Our side emphasized the need to make further progress in denuclearization and inter-Korean relations. We also explained President Lee Myung-bak's commitment to his North Korea policy of mutual benefit and common prosperity,'' according to Cho Yun-soo, deputy spokesman for the ministry.
``The North Korean side was attentive to what we had to say," Cho told reporters.
``We also spoke about the importance of a denuclearization verification protocol. During the dialogue, the North expressed great interest in economic and energy aid, and in Seoul's economy and energy working groups," Cho said.
``Overall, it was an earnest discussion and the North Korean representative also expressed Pyongyang's stance in detail," he said.
The inter-Korean meeting took place just hours before the official opening of the six-nation talks in Beijing.
The latest six-party talks are focusing on ways to verify North Korea's denuclearization process, according to reports. North Korea still continues to refuse having certain samples taken from its nuclear sites for testing by international nuclear authorities.
The United States, Russia, Japan and China are involved in the ongoing six-party talks. The last six-nation discussion was held in June.