Kelly consults here, leaves Thursday for North

U.S. and North Korean teams will sit across the negotiating table from each other Thursday for the first time in the two years of the Bush administration. A U.S. delegation led by James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, leaves Seoul for Pyeongyang on Thursday.

The U.S. delegation arrived in Seoul from Japan on Wednesday en route to Pyeongyang. Mr. Kelly met with Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong and Lim Dong-won, the president's special adviser on foreign policy and national security. No statement about the meetings in Seoul will be issued, an official here said.

After visiting Pyeongyang, Mr. Kelly and his delegation will fly back to Seoul to discuss follow-up measures.

Mr. Kelly's team has tried to dampen expectations of any breakthrough in this round of talks, saying both sides will lay out their positions on how to improve relations. Those expectations have been heightened, however, because of the dazzling turnabouts North Korea has sprung recently in its economic policies and in its relations with its long-time nemesis, Japan. Some North Korea watchers say the North could follow up with a surprise proposal on nuclear and missile issues, which are one of the major concerns of the United States. Pyeongyang wants to be removed from the U.S. "state-sponsored terrorism" list and an end to U.S. opposition to international lending to the North. Before his meetings here, Mr. Kelly again warned against high hopes, saying, "There is a lot of work to do."

by Oh Young-hwan