Senior U.S. diplomat Sung Kim will have talks with officials of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in New York on Thursday, the State Department said Tuesday.

The scheduled talks between Kim, special envoy for the six- party talks, and Ambassador Ri Gun, director general for North American affairs at the DPRK Foreign Ministry, will focus on international efforts aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons.

Details of the meeting are yet to be completed, the State Department said.

During its one-week stay in New York, the DPRK delegation is also expected to attend an event Friday organized by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, a non-governmental organization.

Following a two-day trip to Pyongyang by U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill, the United States removed the DPRK from its terrorism list on October 11 after the two sides reached the agreement on verification measures over the latter's nuclear program.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2008)