The United States is planning to send its special envoy to the six-way nuclear talks, Sung Kim, to two meetings in the U.S. next week that will be attended by a top North Korean official.

According to the U.S. State Department, Kim is highly likely to attend the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue opening in San Diego on Monday and a subsequent debate in New York that Ri Gun will be attending. Ri is the director general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's United States division.

As a result, observers believe Kim and Ri may possibly meet on the sidelines of the dialogues to discuss bilateral U.S.-North Korea talks, Pyongyang’s return to the nuclear discussions, and a visit to North Korea by U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy, Stephen Bosworth.