U.S. And North Korean Officials Pursuing Peace Talks?

A North Korean delegation led by its deputy foreign minister held talks with former government officials of the United States in Malaysia for a second day on Saturday to discuss pending issues such as the North's nuclear and missile tests. / Yonhap

Korea Times: N. Korean diplomats meet with ex-US officials in Malaysia

A North Korean delegation led by its deputy foreign minister held talks with former government officials of the United States in Malaysia for a second day on Saturday to discuss pending issues such as the North's nuclear and missile tests.

The U.S.-North Korea contact, although it is informal or unofficial, came after North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test in September, just eight months after its previous nuke test.

"I came here through Beijing," the North's deputy ambassador to the United Nations Jang Il-hun told Yonhap News Agency. As for topics discussed during the dialogue, he said the two sides talked about several "pending issues and each other's thoughts on them."

Read more ....

Update #1: Informal Talks between US and North Korea over Denuclearization hit Big Snag (China Topix)
Update #2: US Delegate: N. Korea Calls for Peace Treaty at Kuala Lumpur Track 2 Talks (KBS)
Update #3: US exploring new options for N. Korean policy (Korea Times)
Update #4: ‘Peace Treaty’ on the Horizon? North Korea, Ex-US Officials Huddle in Malaysia (Sputnik).

WNU Editor: The U.S. Government is pouring "cold water" on these talks .... U.S. gov't dismisses rare talks involving N.K. diplomats as 'Track 2' meeting (Yonhap News Agency). The South Koreans are very sceptical .... Seoul sees little progress at informal US-NK talks (Korea Herald).

What's my take .... it looks like the back channels between the U.S. and North Korea are very active right now.