N Korea-US talks N. Korea, U.S. set for two-day talks in New York: State Dept.

WASHINGTON, July 27 (Yonhap) -- The United States announced Wednesday that it will hold two days of high-level talks with North Korea in New York aimed at seeing whether the communist nation is ready for full-fledged negotiations on denuclearization. "Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth will lead an inter-agency team to meet with the (North's) first vice foreign minister, Kim Kye-gwan, and the DPRK delegation at the U.S. mission in New York on July 28th and 29th," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a press briefing. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He did not disclose the list of U.S. delegates. "This will be an exploratory meeting to determine if North Korea is prepared to fulfill its commitments under the 2005 joint statement of the six-party talks and its international obligations, as well as take concrete and irreversible steps towards denuclearization," Toner said. The North Korean official arrived in New York on Tuesday, saying he is optimistic about Pyongyang-Washington relations.