US, S. Korea Discuss N. Korea Nuclear Program

South Korea’s top nuclear negotiator met Thursday with US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth to discuss Pyongyang’s uranium enrichment program, officials said.

Envoy Wi Sung-Lac’s visit came a day after the North’s main ally China blocked publication of a UN report criticising the program, which was disclosed last November and could offer a new route to nuclear weapons.

NKorea Threatens Attack if US, SKorea Hold Drills

U.S. Special Envoy Stephen Bosworth & South Korea's Wi Sung-lac

North Korea threatened a “powerful” attack if the U.S. and South Korea proceed with joint military drills next month, warning Thursday that it could even resort to nuclear means.

The threat, routinely issued before South Korea and the U.S. embark on regularly scheduled military exercises, was made just hours after President Barack Obama’s special envoy to North Korea arrived in Seoul to discuss the North.

Communist North Korea, believed to have enough weaponized plutonium to make at least a half-dozen atomic bombs, quit six-nation disarmament-for-aid negotiations last year. It also conducted a nuclear test, earning stricter U.N. sanctions.