President Roh Moo-hyun's chief security advisor left Tuesday for Washington to discuss ways of resuming the six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and diffusing tension over the communist state's alleged missile launch preparations, officials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.
Song Min-soon, Roh's chief secretary for security policy, also plans to use his three-day visit to fine-tune the agenda for the summit between Roh and U.S. President George W. Bush to be held in the U.S. capital in September, they added.
Song, previously Seoul's chief nuclear envoy, is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and several other officials.
His trip comes as South Korea and its allies are stepping up efforts to restart the six-nation talks that have been suspended for months. The discussions, based in Beijing, involve the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and the two Koreas.
The host China has reportedly proposed an unofficial gathering of nuclear envoys from the six countries in the eastern Chinese city of Shenyang as a prelude to the formal talks in Beijing.
Shenyang is a rare Chinese city with diplomatic missions of all the participating nations in the six-party talks.
"Related countries are in consultations, keeping its feasibility in view," Song told reporters at Incheon International Airport shortly before flying to Washington. "Neither venue nor time have been fixed, and it is up to North Korea's stance."
It is not clear whether North Korea will accept the offer, however, while the other nations are known to be supporting China's initiative.
South Korea suggested late last year that such an informal meeting take place on its southern holiday island of Jeju, but North Korea rejected it.
North Korea is hoping to have bilateral negotiations with the U.S. in an apparent attempt to persuade Washington to halt its crackdown on Pyongyang's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.
Officials in the Bush administration are adamantly opposed to any one-on-one talks with North Koreans outside of the multilateral nuclear talks.
The North Koreans might have found some positive signs for their bid in the U.S. Congress.
Some leading U.S. senators, including Republican Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, have just started to put pressure on the Bush administration to have bilateral talks with North Korea.
The senators point out that the North's reported missile activities prove that U.S. diplomacy on Pyongyang has failed.
Song said that the upcoming summit between Roh and Bush will include discussions about a wide range of Korean affairs, including the North Korean nuclear crisis.
"It will be an opportunity for the two countries' leaders to share their thoughts on entangled Northeast Asian issues," he said.
Seoul, July 4 (Yonhap News)
Top S. Korean security official visits Washington for talks on N. Korea |
