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U.S. Deputy Secretary of State to visit Seoul for talks

21 January 2011 03:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg is scheduled to visit Seoul next week as part of his Asian tour following the recent summit between China and the United States, the foreign ministry here said Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

Steinberg’s two-day trip starting next Wednesday will involve meetings with South Korean officials, where he is expected to brief them on the outcome of the summit and discuss nuclear issues of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to the ministry.

The visit comes after Pyongyang recently claimed its willingness to return to the six-party talks it once boycotted.

The South Korean government has decided to accept a proposal Thursday from the DPRK to hold high-ranking inter-Korean military talks, Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

Seoul also plans to suggest holding separate talks between high- ranking government officials from the two sides to discuss the denuclearization issue, according to Yonhap.

The move came after the DPRK’s Armed Forces Minister Kim Yong- chun proposed discussing "pending issues" in a message sent to South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin.

The talks, if held, will mark the first major contact between the two sides for years. Pyongyang has recently repeated call for inter-Korean dialogue. Steinberg’s Asian trip will also bring him to Japan and China.