North Koreans wrap up talks with ex-US envoys

North Korean diplomat Ri Gun, center, gives a statement to media at the airport Tegel in Berlin

Associated Press reported that a delegation of senior North Korean diplomats wrapped up three days of talks with former U.S. officials in Germany. The six-person North Korean contingent, led by Ri Gun, the director general of the North American affairs bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his deputy Choe Son Hui, departed from Berlin Wednesday.

Charles King Mallory, executive director of the Aspen Institute think tank that organized the talks, said the two sides met at a secluded castle in southern Germany from Sunday through Tuesday. The American delegation was led by Tom Pickering, a former secretary of state for political affairs at the State Department. There was no official U.S. government involvement.