N. Korean official given visa for seminar

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Analysts say a visit to the United States by a North Korean official raises hope for bilateral discussions.

Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, will likely meet with U.S. officials on the sidelines of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at the University of California seminar to be held this month in San Diego, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Saturday.

The granting of a visa to Ri to attend an event in which representatives of South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan -- members of the six-way talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions -- will be present is fanning hopes that Pyongyang and Washington may be closer to moving on bilateral talks aimed at restarting the stalled six-way negotiations, Yonhap said.

The news agency noted that Ri visited New York last year to attend an academic seminar soon after the election of U.S. President Barack Obama, meeting with Sung Kim, special envoy for the six-party talks, and other U.S. officials and key Obama policy advisers.