U.S. deputy secretary of state due in Seoul

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell will
arrive in the South Korean capital later Tuesday on a three-day visit to meet
with officials here on various issues, including the Korea-U.S. alliance and
North Korea's nuclear ambition.
The U.S. official will arrive from Japan, where he was on a two-day visit from
Monday, according to official at the U.S. embassy in Seoul.
Campbell is scheduled to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart Lee
Yong-joon on Wednesday to discuss various bilateral issues, such as the scheduled
transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul and the
ongoing return of U.S. bases due to a relocation of U.S. troops to an enlarged
base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul.
"He will also meet with Wi Sung-lac (Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator) to discuss
ways to resume six-party talks and joint strategy for North Korea's nuclear
ambition," an official at the South Korean foreign ministry said.
South Korea and the U.S. are part of the six-nation process aimed at
denuclearizing North Korea. The talks have stalled since late 2008, with the
communist North announcing in mid-2009 that it was permanently quitting the
negotiations also attended by Japan, China and Russia.
Campbell will also meet with the country's Deputy Minister for Trade Lee Hye-min,
also the chief negotiator in free trade talks, to discuss ways to move forward a
free trade deal that was signed between the countries in 2007 but has yet to be
ratified by either of their legislatures.
The U.S. deputy secretary of state will head back to Washington on Thursday after
also meeting with South Korea's presidential security adviser Kim Sung-hwan and
Seoul's point man on North Korea, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, according to
the ministry official.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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