U.S.-North Korea Talks Set Saturday

The United States and North Korea will open talks Saturday in Berlin on Pyongyang’s missile program, a State Department official said Thursday.

The Clinton administration hopes to push for a freeze on North Korean missile exports and production, the official said. Pyongyang is believed to have sold long-range Scud missiles to Iran and Syria.

Washington and Pyongyang are also believed to have disagreed about the scope of the talks. U.S. officials wanted them limited to arms issues while North Korea is said to have proposed a broader agenda.

The talks were to have begun today, but a key U.S. participant, Robert Einhorn, plans to take part in high-level discussions that day between the United States and China in the Netherlands.