The foreign ministers of Japan and North Korea on Wednesday held talks for the first time in three years amid expectations that Pyongyang may start taking concrete steps toward denuclearization and engage in more dialogue.
Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters that he sat down with North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho for about 20 minutes at U.N. headquarters, without giving further details.
The meeting in New York, where the 73rd session of the General Assembly is underway, came a day after South Korea's presidential office revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed during last week's inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang his preparedness to engage in direct talks with Japan at an "appropriate time."