From correspondents in Seoul, South Korea, 12:05 PM IST

US President Barack Obama's special envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth ended his visit to North Korea Thursday.

Bosworth had arrived in the Stalinist state Tuesday tasked with persuading North Korea to restart six-party talks aimed at ending the communist state's nuclear weapons programme. The talks involve South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia, the US and China.

North Korea in April abandoned the six-party talks following criticism by the UN Security Council for a controversial rocket launch, but in September indicated it would be willing to revive the stalled talks.

However, the isolated regime made its participation contingent on progress in direct talks with the US.

Bosworth left headed towards South Korea, the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)