Anchor: The United States and North Korea are stepping up efforts to follow up on their third round of high-level talks in Beijing last week. Kim In-kyung files this report.

Report: A diplomatic source said Thursday that U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King will meet sometime next week with Ri Gun, the head of North American affairs at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry. The source said King is set to meet Ri at a third country to discuss details on the provision of U.S. food aid to the communist state. The source added the venue of the discussions is likely to be Beijing given King’s travel plans.

The U.S. and North Korea held their third round of high-level talks in Beijing on February 23rd and 24th. The North agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program and long-range missile tests, while the U.S. agreed to provide the North with 240-thousand tons of food aid. However, the North is said to have asked for an additional 50-thousand tons of corn.

At the anticipated follow-up talks, the U.S. and North Korea are expected to discuss the specifics of providing food aid and monitoring the distribution process. The two nations will also pursue exchange programs in culture, education and sports in the near future, as agreed to during the Beijing talks. Sources said it could become easier for Korean Americans to engage in cultural exchanges with North Korea and meet with separated family members living there.

In addition, North Korea is soon expected to begin discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency for suspending its uranium enrichment program.

Meanwhile, the top nuclear negotiators of the two Koreas will attend a seminar on Korean Peninsula affairs in the state of New York next Tuesday. Attention has been drawn to whether Ri Yong-ho, the North’s senior representative at the six-party talks, and his South Korean counterpart Lim Sung-nam will meet on the sidelines of the seminar at Syracuse University.

Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.