U.S. and North Korean diplomats are holding a working luncheon during their second day of talks in New York Friday.

The two delegations spent the morning talking at the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

After the first session Thursday, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, the head of the North Korean delegation, called the atmosphere good.

The State Department called the talks serious and business-like. The United States says the talks are aimed at seeing if North Korea is ready to meet its commitment to give up its nuclear weapons program.

In Seoul, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac said he is not very optimistic that the meeting will yield quick results.

Special envoy Stephen Bosworth leads the U.S. side to the first direct senior-level talks between the two countries in 18 months. They are expected to conclude Friday afternoon.

The United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have been trying to persuade the North to give up its nuclear weapons. The North pulled out of six-nation talks on its nuclear program in 2008 and tested a second nuclear weapon months later.