No news from Sweden on Trump-Kim summit

North Korean officials wrapped up three days of talks with Swedish counterparts with no indication their efforts cleared the way for a mooted nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, as a senior Pyongyang diplomat headed to Finland yesterday for further meetings.

The North's state KCNA news agency said yesterday the Stockholm talks had discussed "bilateral relations and other issues of mutual concern", without providing further detail.

The meetings in Sweden came a week after Trump agreed to a summit proposal relayed by South Korean envoys who met Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang.

His response triggered a race to set a credible agenda for what would be historic talks between the two leaders. But no specific time or venue has been set and North Korea has yet to confirm it even made the offer to meet.

Choe Kang Il, deputy director for North American affairs at Pyongyang's foreign ministry, was seen at Beijing airport yesterday departing for Finland, where he is expected to hold talks with former US ambassador to Seoul Kathleen Stephens, multiple media reports said.

Earlier reports had listed Choe among the North's delegation to Sweden, reported AFP.

Choe, experienced in negotiations with the US, is expected to meet the retired US diplomat as well as other retired South Korean diplomats.

"But no current US or South Korean officials will be there," Yonhap quoted the source in Seoul as saying.

Meanwhile, Southeast Asian countries and Australia said yesterday they held "grave concerns" about escalating tension caused by North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes and urged "irreversible" denuclearisation, reported Reuters.

"We strongly urge the DPRK to immediately and fully comply with its obligations under all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions," the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Australia said in a joint declaration, using the initials for North Korea's official name.