DPRK envoy makes rare US visit

The chief nuclear envoy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) embarked on a rare trip to the United States yesterday.

The DPRK's nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan made a brief stopover in Beijing en route for talks with US officials, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

At the latest round of the Six-Party Talks earlier this month the DPRK agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor, the source of its weapons-grade plutonium, in return for energy aid.