S. Korean nuclear envoy heads to New York

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy left for New York Wednesday to attend a security conference, officials said, spurring speculation he may meet with his North Korean counterpart who is also scheduled to join the forum. Lim Sung-nam, the top Seoul envoy to the six-party talks, will attend the three-day forum hosted by the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. His North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho already arrived in New York on Tuesday. South Korean officials have said no meeting between Lim and Ri has been set during the forum that will start Wednesday (New York time), but they did not rule out the possibility of an encounter on the sidelines of the conference, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) reported. The visits by Lim and Ri to New York come nearly a week after North Korea and the U.S. announced a surprise deal that raised hopes of a resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. The multilateral talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program have been stalled since the last round in late 2008. Under the deal, Pyongyang agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program and nuclear and missile tests in return for massive U.S. food aid. Also on Wednesday in Beijing, U.S. and North Korean officials were holding talks to finalize arrangements on how Washington would deliver its "nutritional assistance" to Pyongyang. During the security forum, Lim and Ri plan to stay at the same hotel, the Millennium Plaza, a Seoul official said on condition of anonymity. "If they meet, both sides could discuss the issues of denuclearization and inter-Korean dialogue," the official said. Upon arrival in New York, North Korean envoy Ri expressed optimism for the resumption of six-party talks, but said he has no plan to meet with Lim. "The six-party talks will fare well," Ri told reporters at New York's JFK airport.