North Korean diplomat to visit U.S.

Ri Gun, a senior North Korean diplomat, will pay a visit to U.S.

A representative of North Korea's UN mission told the Associated Press news agency that Mr. Ri would attend a private security forum in California while another report said he was going to a meeting in New York.

Earlier this month North Korea announced it was willing to return to multi-party negotiations on its nuclear program, strongly through direct negotiations with the US first.

The U.S. in his turn says it is willing to engage directly with North Korea, but only as part of a return to six-party forum.
Recall that the six-party talks involve South and North Koreas, China, the U.S., Russia, and Japan.