Nuclear security

An American delegation of academics and former senior officials urged the resumption of official nuclear talks during two days of informal meetings with North Korea's top nuclear envoy, a former senior U.S. diplomat said Tuesday.

The North Korean diplomat, Ri Yong Ho, repeated to reporters his country's longstanding demand that Washington and Seoul stop annual military drills that Pyongyang says are invasion preparations. The U.S. and South Korea say the drills are routine and defensive.

Neither Ri nor former U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy Stephen Bosworth said anything likely to change the deadlock between North Korea and its neighbors and Washington over Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear-armed missiles that could hit the American mainland. But even an informal discussion is seen as a small step forward at a time of high tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

US ex-officials conclude nuke talks with N. Korean diplomat