U.S.- Korean nuclear envoys fail to meet

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Sources say the U.S. envoy to North Korean nuclear talks will return without having met with his counterpart from Pyongyang.

Sung Kim came to China to talk about a deal including multinational aid for ending nuclear proliferization. But talks stalled around issues of verification -- with the mysterious no-show of North Korean envoy Ri Gun clinching the breakdown, reported BBC Saturday.

Ri "did not come to Beijing today," an official of the South Korean embassy in Beijing said Saturday on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials have refused to take North Korea off their list of of state sponsors of terrorism until Pyongyang comes up with an adequate verification plan showing dismantlement of its uranium-based nuclear program. North Korea is first demanding international aid be restored.