The North Korean Foreign Ministry’s American affairs bureau chief Ri Gun, who was in New York to discuss his country’s nuclear verification protocol, and Frank Jannuzi, chief of Obama’s Korea policy team, attended a meeting of Korea experts organized by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.

Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs Winston Lord, former ambassador to China Stapleton Roy, Donald Zagoria, a professor of government at Hunter College, former ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg, and special envoy on North Korean affairs Sung Kim were at the seminar.

Despite being unofficial, the two-hour meeting was strictly confidential. It was the first contact between Jannuzi, who will likely take charge of Obama's Korea policy, and Ri.

Zagoria said the North Korean official seemed most interested in whether the Obama administration can maintain continuity in talks during the transition period. He was “encouraged” to see the North Korean official understood that the U.S. government's maintenance of momentum of the Pyongyang-Washington dialogue is crucial, Zagoria added.

(englishnews@chosun.com )