SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - President Barack Obama says his envoy on North Korea will travel to the country early next month for the first bilateral talks with the communist regime since he took office.
Obama said at a joint news conference in Seoul with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (lee myuhng bahk) that Ambassador Stephen Bosworth will go to Pyongyang (pyuhng-yahng) on Dec. 8.
North Korea has been pushing for bilateral talks with Washington to discuss the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program. The U.S. has agreed to the talks but has stressed they must lead to the resumption of six-nation disarmament negotiations.
North Korea conducted a nuclear test and test-fired a series of missiles earlier this year.