Bilateral talks between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) entered the second day on Sunday with more hope for reaching agreements on further denuclearization and bilateral relations.
The car of Christopher Hill, top U.S. negotiator, entered the DPRK's mission to the United Nations in Geneva shortly after 10:00am local time (0800 GMT).
Hill was expected to meet with DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan for a few hours.
Both sides have given upbeat comment on their working group meeting, which is being held as part of a Feb. 13 agreement reached in the six-party talks in Beijing that also involved China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
According to the agreement, the DPRK should completely dismantle its nuclear facilities in exchange for aid and security and diplomatic guarantees, including normalizing ties with the United States.
"I think we reached substantial understanding between the two of us on what needs to be accomplished in the months ahead," Hill said on Saturday following the conclusion of the first day of talks.
Hill was referring to what he called the second phase of the Korean Peninsula denuclearization process, which will be the disablement of nuclear facilities and full declaration of nuclear programs on the DPRK part and economic assistance and relationship normalization considerations on the U.S. side.
He expressed hope that when the next round of six-party talks resume later this month in Beijing, a detailed agreement could be reached on how to implement the second phase of the denuclearization process.
Kim also spoke positively about the first day of talks on Saturday, which he said "went well."
Kim said the two sides discussed the issue of removing the DPRK from a U.S. list of so-called state sponsors for terrorism, a key element in improving relations between the two countries that have been enemy for 50 years.
"Both sides see their obligations … and I expect this (two-day) meeting will have a fruitful result," Kim said.
