The United States and North Korea resumed talks Thursday delayed by the death of North Korea's longtime leader Kim Jong Il two months ago, with the U.S. envoy saying he and his counterpart covered U.S. food aid and other topics.

The discussions - the first since Kim's death - are to continue Friday and could signal whether North Korea's new government is ready to agree to steps demanded by Washington and Pyongyang's neighbors to restart broader international disarmament talks, which are meant to provide aid and diplomatic concessions in return for the North abandoning its nuclear weapons programs.

Kim's Dec. 17 death upended a deal between the United States and North Korea where Pyongyang would have suspended its uranium enrichment in return for food aid from Washington. The meetings in Beijing may partly reveal North Korea's goals under new leader Kim Jong Un, who has vowed to follow his father's policies.