Let's start with the ongoing diplomacy with North Korea...<br />A senior North Korean foreign affairs official, Ri Su-yong, left for Laos on Wednesday after spending a night in Beijing.<br />U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, is currently in Beijing as well, and there is a possibility that Ri and Biegun could have met.<br />Ri is the head of the North Korean ruling party's international department... which is mainly in charge of the North's party-to-party exchanges with other countries.<br />His visit to Laos is believed to be to strengthen Pyeongyang's ties with socialist countries in the wake of the Hanoi summit collapse.<br />Biegun is in Beijing reportedly to meet his Chinese counterpart and discuss last month's summit and sanctions against the North. <br />
