Senior officials from the United States and North Korea have kicked off working-level talks in Sweden to prepare for a second summit between the leaders of the two countries.
Stephen Biegun, Washington's special representative for North Korea, arrived in Stockholm on Saturday afternoon for four days of meetings with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui in an effort to break the current deadlock over denuclearization talks.
It is the first time that Biegun has met Choe for working-level denuclearization talks since he became the U.S. nuclear envoy in August last year.
South Korea's top nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, also arrived in Sweden on Friday for possible three-way negotiations with them as a potential mediator in denuclearization talks.
The officials from the two Koreas and the U.S. joined a welcome reception hosted by the Swedish government on Saturday, which is said to be held in an amicable atmosphere.
The North Korean and U.S. diplomats met again on Sunday on the sidelines of an international forum, a source said.
While at a retreat 50 kilometers northwest of Stockholm, the nuclear envoys are expected to hold intensive negotiations to break the impasse. The facility is under tight security, with police blocking journalists and outsiders' access to it.