U.S.-N. Korea talks to resume in New York

Representatives of the United States and North Korea will meet in New York on Sept. 27 to resume stalled bilateral talks on a number of pending issues.

U.S. special envoy on Korean peace Charles Kartman and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-Gwan will lead the two delegations.

The meeting is expected to repair the awkward relations between Washington and Pyongyang in the aftermath of North Korean Supreme People's Assembly Standing Committee Chairman Kim Young-Nam's abrupt return home from Frankfurt in protest of an allegedly rude body search by American Airlines officials at the airport. He cut short his trip Sept. 5 and canceled his planned attendance at the United Nations Millennium Summit scheduled for Sept. 6-8.

Kartman told South Korean reporters at the U.S. Capitol that the upcoming talks will take up major points at issue between Washington and Pyongyang, including the missile program question and a proposed visit by ranking North Korean officials to the United States. Washington is greatly interested in reviving the four-power conference of the United States, China and two Koreas, he said.