Special U.N. envoy due in Seoul before trip to N. Korea

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- A special envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
to North Korea will visit Seoul this week before flying to the communist nation
via China early next week, South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday.
Lynn Pascoe, U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, will arrive here
Saturday for a three-day visit to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu
Myung-hwan and Wi Sung-lac, country's chief negotiator to six-nation talks on
ending North Korea's nuclear program, a ministry spokesman said.
"The special envoy Pascoe's visit to Pyongyang will be the first trip by a
ranking U.N. official to North Korea since Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came
into office," the ministry spokesman, Kim Young-sun, told a press briefing.
"The government hopes the upcoming visit will contribute to the peace and
stability of the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," he added.
Pascoe will leave Monday for China where he will likely catch a flight the
following day to the North Korean capital.
His North Korea trip is scheduled to end next Friday.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)