EU's diplomatic back channel in Pyongyang goes cold

FILE PHOTO: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un makes a statement regarding U.S. President Donald Trump's speech at the U.N. general assembly, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 22, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - While European powers France and Britain are lobbying Washington to cool tensions since North Korea's most powerful nuclear test a month ago, EU nations with embassies in Pyongyang are directly pressing the North Koreans.

A group of seven European Union countries - the Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Britain and Germany - held at least two formal meetings with North Korean officials in Pyongyang in September, three EU diplomats said.