S. Korean FM to meet Clinton on 6-way talks' resumption

SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan will visit Washington late this week to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on ways to revive the multilateral talks for the North's nuclear dismantlement, officials said Monday.
Kim will have talks with Clinton Friday, focusing on ways to resume dialogue with North Korea in the wake of its increasingly belligerent attitude toward the South, the officials said.
South Korea and the U.S. have maintained a common policy on dealing with the communist regime, amid Pyongyang's deadly attacks on a South Korean warship and front-line island that killed 50 people last year.
Kim and Clinton are also to discuss their bilateral alliance, partnerships on global affairs, and cooperation in North Korea issues.
Parallel to the ministerial meeting, Seoul's chief envoy to the stalled six-party denuclearization talks, Wi Sung-lac, is scheduled to meet senior U.S. officials over ways to revive the multilateral forum that also includes North Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
The denuclearization-for-aid talks have been stalled since December 2008 due to U.N. sanctions for Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests and the two deadly attacks.
Wi will meet with Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs and Clifford Hart, the newly-appointed U.S. envoy for the six-party talks.
Prior to his Washington trip, Kim will first stop in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday and deliver a speech congratulating U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his reappointment as chief of the global body.
Ban's re-election by the 192-member organization is almost certain after the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution of support on Friday. The former South Korean foreign minister is expected to be voted in for a second term through 2016 in a formal vote soon to be held at the plenary session of the assembly.
Kim also plans to meet separately with Ban and hold a reception for the U.N. diplomatic corps in celebration of the U.N. chief's re-election.
Also in New York, Kim plans to appoint the Korean-born American football player, Hines Ward, as a goodwill ambassador for the promotion of South Korea-U.S. relations.
Kim is also scheduled to meet with members of the Korea Society, a New York-based group dealing with affairs related to Korea, including Thomas Hubbard, chairman of the Society's board of directors, and Mark Minton, its president.
hague@yna.co.kr