North Korea, US begin nuke talks

US and North Korean negotiators will start talks on Monday aimed at normalising diplomatic ties as part of a complex agreement under which Pyongyang has pledged to scrap its nuclear arms programmes for aid.

The talks at the US mission to the UN mark the highest-level meeting on American soil since communist North Korea8217;s leader Kim Jong-Il sent a top envoy to Washington in 2000 in an abortive effort to improve relations.

North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan will meet his American counterpart, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, to begin resolving problems between two countries that have been bitter foes since the 1950-53 Korean War.

8220;This is the beginning of the implementation of the agreement,8221; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.