The U.S. envoy for North Korea's nuclear program did not meet bilaterally with a nuclear negotiator from Pyongyang on the sidelines of an international security forum held in Beijing this week, the State Department said Thursday.

Amb. Sung Kim's trip to Beijing was a focus of media attention due to the possibility of him meeting with Choe Son-hui, deputy director for North American affairs at North Korea's Foreign Ministry, and the North's deputy chief envoy for the six-party nuclear talks.

Both attended the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue, which brings together government officials and scholars from all six nations involved in negotiations over the North's nuclear programs--the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S.

The State Department had said Kim had no plans to meet bilaterally with Choe. But speculation about their meeting arose again after Choe declined to comment on whether she had a meeting with Kim, saying it is a "sensitive matter."

In Washington, the State Department confirmed there was no such meeting. "Ambassador Kim did not meet with Choe Son-hui in Beijing,"
Katina Adams, a department spokeswoman, told Yonhap News Agency.

During the security forum in Beijing, Choe said the six-party nuclear talks are "dead," dashing hopes that Pyongyang might change course on its nuclear ambitions.

She also hailed the North's test this week of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, claiming that Pyongyang successfully displayed the capability of fielding a nuclear-armed missile to counter any nuclear attacks from the United States. The six-party talks have been stalled since late 2008. (Yonhap)