Chief nuclear envoys from the two Koreas met in New York, where North Korea showed a commitment to implementing its recent agreement to start dismantling its nuclear weapons program, news reports in South Korea said Sunday.

"Without a doubt, the North is committed to taking initial steps" for disarmament as agreed on last month at international nuclear talks, South Korea 's chief nuclear negotiator Chun Yung-woo told reporters after a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, the South's Yonhap news agency reported.

North Korea "has a will to do its part" in implementing the nuclear deal, Chun was quoted as saying.

Kim arrived in New York on Friday for talks on establishing diplomatic relations with the United States, one of the agreements reached under the disarmament accord.
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The bilateral talks were set to be held today and tomorrow, with the top American negotiator at the six-party talks, Christopher Hill, representing the US and Kim representing North Korea.

At the US-North Korean talks, "it will be important to create political conditions," Chun said, but declined to comment further, according to Yonhap.

In outlining the first phase of Pyongyang's disarmament process, the February 13 deal calls on North Korea to shut down its main nuclear reactor and allow UN inspectors back into the country within 60 days.

In return, it would receive aid equal to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil from the other countries participating in the nuclear talks - the United States, South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.

(China Daily via agencies March 5, 2007)