Official: North Korean talks at a juncture

SEOUL, June 8 (UPI) -- International talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program have reached an important juncture, a diplomatic source says.

The so-called Six Party talks to finalize the second phase of the North's nuclear disarmament are scheduled this week in Pyongyang, Beijing and the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.

Under agreements reached since September 2005, North Korea is required to jettison its nuclear program. In exchange, the reclusive communist government receives energy aid and political concessions, eventually including removal from the U.S. government's list of terrorism-sponsoring countries.

Pyongyang's refusal to fully disclose its nuclear inventory and activities in a declaration has slowed progress.

"We will, after this week, be able to measure which direction the nuclear negotiations will move," the source told Yonhap.

Sung Kim, director of Korean affairs at the U.S. State Department, will visit Pyongyang Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss normalizing relations between North Korea and the United States, while North Korea and Japan will hold working-group talks on normalizing relations in Beijing Wednesday and Thursday.

"The three sets of talks will deal with different agenda but pursue the same purpose -- to finalize the phase two of the North Korea denuclearization," another diplomatic source said.