A group of former U.S. officials plans to seek its latest round of informal talks with North Korean officials as tensions escalate in the region.
Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. intelligence specialist who helped broker a agreement on North Korea's nuclear program, said unofficial talks between the two sides usually take place about every six months. He said his group plans to contact the North Korean mission to the United Nations in New York at the end of this month or the beginning of April to arrange the meetings.
DeTrani said he is hopeful that informal talks will eventually lead to exploratory meetings between current U.S. officials and North Korean diplomats. That would allow North Korea to explain its insistence on having a nuclear deterrence, talk about a peace treaty and discuss objections to U.S.-South Korea military exercises, DeTrani said.