Rice to visit South Korea
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is likely to visit South Korea next week in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test, it was reported today.
Rice is also expected to visit Japan and China during the trip.
A South Korean official said discussions were under way between Washington and Seoul, but final details of the trip had yet to be confirmed.
The move would reflect a high-level effort by regional powers to stave off negative consequences after the North’s claim to have detonated its first-ever nuclear bomb on Monday.
North Korea’s purported test has added new urgency to international efforts to convince the communist nation to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.
International talks over the North’s nuclear programs have been stalled for nearly a year. The talks involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US
The talks last met in November, when negotiators failed to make progress toward implementing a breakthrough September 2005 agreement in which the North pledged to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and security guarantees.
Pyongyang has boycotted the talks, demanding a one-on-one meeting with Washington over a US campaign to sever the North’s access to the international financial system for its alleged illicit activities like money laundering and counterfeiting.
The US has rejected direct talks with the North and has called on the North to return to the six-nation talks without precondition.
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