South Korea confirmed Friday that U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns will visit Seoul next week to discuss a strategy for progress in the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program.
But Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph will skip South Korea during his tour of the Northeast Asian region with Burns, it said.
"Undersecretary Burns, in charge of political affairs, is scheduled to arrive here on Tuesday night for a three-day stay," a Foreign Ministry official said, asking not to be named.
His trip, the official added, is aimed at having a "strategic dialogue" with his South Korean counterpart Yu Myung-hwan on bilateral issues on Wednesday. The two allies launched Cabinet-level strategic consultation sessions in January this year, and also agreed to hold regular talks between their number two diplomats.
Burns is expected to focus his trip on talking about how to advance international efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis, as the communist regime agreed to re-enter the six-party format also involving China, Russia, and Japan.
"He is likely to discuss a framework of strategy for the six-party talks here, as fine-tuning a detailed strategy is a job of Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill," the official said.
South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo said he plans to meet with Hill and his Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae as early as next week.
Earlier in the day in Washington, the U.S. State Department said that Burns and Joseph will travel together to the region to create "the right condition, the best atmosphere to prepare for this next round of six-party talks."
It said their destinations will be Japan, China, Russia, and South Korea. But the South Korean Foreign Ministry official said that Joseph, who handles security and arms control, is not coming to Seoul this time.
He refused to provide a specific reason for it, saying it is a matter to be answered by the U.S. government.
"Undersecretary Joseph did not express an intention of visiting here," he said. "When he visited here last month, accompanying Secretary (of State) Condoleezza Rice, he had sufficient talks with us on the issue of which he is in charge."
Joseph's decision triggered media speculation that he might have wanted to avoid unnecessary disputes that the U.S. is pressing South Korea to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).
South Korea is still considering whether to join the PSI, a voluntary group of some 70 nations making joint efforts to interdict cargo ships carrying weapons of mass destruction and related materials.
Critics say the PSI mainly targets North Korea, and it may trigger armed clashes between the two Koreas. South Korean and U.S. officials say such concerns are exaggerated.
Another ranking Foreign Ministry official said that the government was in the final stage of deciding its position.
"Regardless of whether public worries over possible adverse effects from the PSI are misplaced or not, it would be difficult for the government to ignore such voices," he said on the condition of anonymity, indicating South Korea will not participate in any PSI activities in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula.
As for the reason for Joseph's decision to skip Seoul, he said the U.S. official seems more interested in the Iranian issue than the North Korean one.
"Japan has made huge investments in oil fields in Iran. So Undersecretary Joseph is visiting Japan, in addition to China and Russia, both of which are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council," the official said.
Seoul, Nov. 3 (Yonhap News)
Senior U.S. official due in Seoul next week for discussions on six-way talks |
