N. Korea's nominal leader meets with U.S. businessmen

SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam,
held talks with a group of visiting U.S. businessmen in Pyongyang on Wednesday,
state media said.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the U.S. team also met with Foreign
Minister Pak Ui-chun, but gave no further information.
Kim, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, "met and had a
talk with the delegation of U.S. businessmen headed by General Charles Boyd," the
KCNA said in a one-sentence report. Kim Yong-nam serves as the North's nominal
leader on diplomatic occasions on behalf of top commander Kim Jong-il.
Boyd, a retired U.S. Air Force four-star general and current president of
Business Executives for National Security, a non-partisan Washington-based
organization, arrived in Pyongyang on Monday and met with the North's Vice
Premier Ro Tu-chol on Tuesday. No information about the trip was available on the
U.S. organization's Web site.
Also Tuesday, a group of American scientists returned home after a five-day trip
to North Korea aimed at fostering bilateral cooperation in science research.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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