Nuclear talks with U.S. underway

North Korea and the United States have opened talks in Beijing on the communist nation’s delayed nuclear declaration and the American political concessions it will receive in return, including Pyongyang’s long-sought goal of removal from a U.S. terrorism blacklist.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said he met North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan to lay out the agenda for more detailed talks. Hill was guarded about prospects for progress at this week’s talks -- their first encounter since early April.