N.Korea delays key party meeting

A rare meeting of North Korea's ruling party, expected to pave the way for a leadership succession, has been delayed because of damage from floods and a typhoon, South Korean reports said Wednesday.

The conference was slated for the first half of September, but South Korean officials said there were no signs it had gotten underway.

Senior North Korean officials have told international agencies in Pyongyang that the delegates' meeting has been delayed because of storm damage, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency quoted a source as saying.

Authorities were also mindful that a major gathering at this time could stir resentment among flood victims awaiting help, Yonhap said.

It said there was no word on when the meeting would take place.

The Seoul welfare group, Good Friends, also said the meeting had been delayed because floods had disrupted travel for some delegates.

It said no new date has been set, but it apparently would be held before October 10, the ruling party's anniversary.

However, the North's news agency said Wednesday that Typhoon Kompasu, which hit the peninsula September 2, killed dozens of people.

The storm also destroyed 8,380 homes and 230 public buildings and severely damaged farmland, roads and power lines, the agency reported.

Meanwhile, Stephen Bosworth, US special envoy to North Korea, arrived in Beijing Wednesday for talks on restarting stalled negotiations on North Korea's nuclear disarmament, although he said no quick breakthroughs are likely, the AP reported.

"There is no reason to expect there is going to be a flurry of diplomatic activity in the next few weeks," Bosworth told reporters in Tokyo before flying to Beijing. "It is going to take some time."

The United States said Tuesday that it will have bilateral dialogue with North Korea to discuss the resumption of the six-party nuclear talks only after the North shows a commitment to denuclearize and refrain from further provocations, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

China has urged the US to hold fresh bilateral talks with North Korea to pave the way for the resumption of the nuclear talks.

However, China also expressed Tuesday that it is "willing to work with all parties so as to create conditions for the resumption of the talks."

Agencies - Global Times