The United States and North Korea held informal talks at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia over the weekend to lay the groundwork for new talks to denuclearize North Korea, but seem to have hit an early impasse as both sides stuck to their old demands that scuttled previous talks.

It's also rumored that peace talks to end the Korean War might also have been discussed. The Korean War is officially not over since North Korea and China only signed an Armistice with the United Nations Command that ended fighting on July 27, 1953.

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A North Korean delegation led by the country's deputy ambassador to the United Nations Jang Il-hun held talks with a four-member U.S. delegation that included Robert Gallucci and former high-level U.S. federal government officials. Gallucci, a diplomat and academic, was the chief U.S. negotiator that negotiated a historic nuclear freeze deal during the North Korean nuclear crisis of 1994.

Both sides met on Oct. 21 and 22 to discuss pending issues such as the North's nuclear and missile tests. The Americans described the talks as informal or unofficial. The talks follow North Korea's fifth and most powerful nuclear test in September where a 10 kiloton nuclear weapon was detonated underground.

Jang hinted he had consulted with Beijing before the talks and revealed both sides discussed "pending issues and each other's thoughts on them."

Both panels mainly talked about North Korea's nuclear and missile issues during the informal dialogue, said Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in New York.

Sigal also said the North Koreans demanded the two sides begin talks for a "peace treaty" to establish diplomatic relations between North Korea and the United States.

This demand for a peace treaty seems to have become an obstacle during the informal talks. The North Koreans are reported to have insisted peace talks should precede any moves to address its nuclear and missile program while Washington has again insisted on the opposite: the North first abandon its nuclear ambition before any peace talks can take place.

Sigal said his team reiterated the U.S. position North Korea must first stop its nuclear program but indicated the two sides sought ways to resume dialogue that has been stalled for years.

Sigal also said the talks "gives us a chance to explore things that you know go beyond what the government is saying right now to see if we can find a way back to negotiations." 

TagsUnited States, North Korea, PEACE TALKS, denuclearization, Korean War, Robert Gallucci, Jang Il-hun