Spokesman: U.S.-DPRK talks focuses on building up trust

    WASHINGTON, Mar. 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department on Monday played down expectations of any breakthrough in coming normalization talks between Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and his counterpart Kim Kye-gwan of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

    "I would expect that it ... would take some time in order for that process to be completed," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

IAEA chief sees chance to normalize ties with DPRK

    VIENNA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The chief of the United Nations atomic watchdog said here on Monday that the Beijing agreement offers the agency the chance to normalize relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

    "I welcome the Beijing agreement, and the invitation to visit North Korea, as positive steps toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and towards the normalization of North Korea's relationship with the agency," Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in opening remarks to a gathering of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors. 

U.S., DPRK to begin normalization talks Monday night

    WASHINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua)-- Talks between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on normalizing relations start Monday, the first of their kind since the 1950-1953 Korean war.

    U.S. chief negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, and his DPRK counterpart Kim Kye-gwan are due to begin their meetings with a dinner Monday night at a New York hotel and will then hold full talks on Tuesday, U.S. officials said.