North Korean and US negotiators on Monday began direct talks aimed at reviving long-stalled nuclear disarmament negotiations.
The US team led by outgoing special representative Stephen Bosworth, as well as his replacement Glyn Davies arrived shortly before 8.30am local time at the US embassy where the meeting was to begin at 10:00am.
North Korea's delegation led by first vice foreign minister Kim Kye-Gwan arrived just minutes before talks were due to start.
While analysts expect no breakthrough during the two-day meeting, they see engagement between the two parties as a positive development and a way to stop Pyongyang from making rash moves.
"The view is that while they are talking, they are not provoking, it's jaw-jaw rather than war-war," Mark Fitzpatrick, who heads the non-proliferation programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told AFP.