Top US envoy wants serious talks on NKorea

[January 04, 2011]  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A senior U.S. envoy says he hopes serious negotiations on North Korea will start soon.

Stephen Bosworth spoke Tuesday after arriving in Seoul as part of a tour that also includes stops in China and Japan.

He will discuss ways to deal with North Korea amid lingering tension following the North's artillery attack on a front-line island that killed four South Koreans in November.

Bosworth says he's looking forward to starting serious negotiations on North Korea at a "reasonably early time."

He didn't elaborate and it wasn't clear if he was referring to stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks or something else.

He says he will continue to coordinate closely with China, the North's major ally.

[Associated Press]

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