Foreign ministers of S. Korea, U.S. to meet in Washington next week

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan will
travel to the United States next week for talks with his American counterpart on
ways to further enhance the Korea-U.S. alliance, officials at the foreign
ministry said Wednesday.
Yu will first head to Mexico on Tuesday for a three-day visit that will likely
include talks with his Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa Cantellano. The trip
will mark Yu's first visit to the North American state since he came into office
early 2008.
His two-nation tour will end in Washington where the South Korean minister and
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are scheduled to hold ministerial
dialogue, known as the strategic talks, ministry officials said, asking not to be
identified.
The bilateral talks between the allies of the 1950-53 Korean War were established
four years ago, but have not been held since despite the countries' earlier
pledge to hold them regularly due to busy schedules of their top diplomats.
"The upcoming talks will focus on ways to further enhance the alliance while also
reviewing the implementation of the joint vision for the future of the Korea-U.S.
alliance, which was issued by President Lee Myung-bak and President Barack Obama
after their summit in Washington last year," a ministry official said.
The talks will likely be held Friday (Washington time) as the South Korean
minister is set to leave Washington early Sunday for home.
The scheduled meeting between Yu and Clinton also comes as South Korea and the
U.S. are set to hold four-way talks, involving their top diplomats and defense
ministers, for the first time in history to mark the 60th anniversary of the
start of 1950-53 Korean War this year.
The so-called "Two Plus Two" talks are expected to be held in Seoul within the
first half of the year.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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